Trade mark decision

BL Number

O/175/04

Decision date

15 June 2004

Hearing Officer

Mr D Landau

Mark

CLOSET CLOTHING

Classes

16, 25

Applicant

Closet Clothing Co Ltd

Opponent

Lippincott AG

Opposition

Section 5(2)(b)

Result

Section 5(2)(b) - Opposition failed.

Points Of Interest

• 1. Comparison of the marks CLOSED v CLOSET

Summary

The opposition, which was directed at the Class 25 specification only, was based on a registration of the mark CLOSED in Class 25.

The respective goods being identical, the Hearing Officer proceeded at once to a comparison of the marks.

The marks to be compared, he decided, were CLOSED v CLOSET, since the opponents could not be in any better a position in relation to the second mark.

Despite their common etymological root, the marks were conceptually different, he found. Phonetically they were different also. Given the importance of brands in the clothing trade and the consequent care exercised by customers in making their purchases the Hearing Officer, in the result, found the marks to be not similar. This effectively decided the matter under Section 5(2)(b), the inherently distinctive nature of the opponents’ mark notwithstanding.

Full decision O/175/04 36Kb