G S Commerce Ltd. proprietor of application for trademark registration.№ 136523 DMV seeks the cancellation of the decision for complete refusal of trade mark registration. The decision is issued under opposition brought under art.38b in conjunction with art. 12, par. 1, p. 2 and art. 12, par. 3 of the LTGI. G S Commerce Ltd. is represented by the team of IP Consulting.
The opponent based the opposition on earlier combined European union trade mark № 221598 OMV, registered for the goods and services in classes 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 11. 17, 19, 36, 37, 39, 40 and 42.
Regarding the likelihood of confusion the applicant considers that defining the word element DMV Ltd as dominant and distinctive in the composition of the process trademark is wrong. When comparing the abbreviations DMV and OMV, the principle that in case of short words the smallest distinction becomes clearly noticeable should be applied. This in itself is sufficient to accept a lack of similarity.
According to BPO the appeal filed by IP Consulting is well-founded, because there is no similarity between the services in Class 35 of the trademark applied for and the opposing services in Classes 37 and 39. Moreover, it is clear from the depiction of the signs that a dominant element in their composition cannot be distinguished. The differences in the graphic layout of the signs and the different first letter of the short word elements cause different visual effects.
In view of phonetics, in the overall pronunciation, the trademarks will be interpreted by Bulgarian consumers as ‘di-em-vi-el-ti-di’, and respectively ‘o-em-vi’. Hence, the signs are characterized by a different sounding.
Pursuant to art. 45, par. 2 of the LTGI, the President of the Bulgarian Patent Office CANCELS the decision on opposition, which lead to a complete refusal for trademark registration No. 136523 DMV, combined.
