Trade mark decision

BL Number

O/242/03

Decision date

20 August 2003

Hearing Officer

Dr W J Trott

Mark

ETURION

Classes

05

Applicant

Pharmacia Corporation

Opponent

Sanofi-Synthelabo

Opposition

Section 5(2)(b)

Result

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

Points Of Interest

• 1. Neither party filed evidence but the opponents filed a copy of a decision issued by the French Trade Mark Office, involving the same parties and same marks as part of their written submissions. There had been a finding that the marks were similar. The Hearing Officer disregarded these papers.

Summary

The applicants mark has a specification reading "Pharmaceutical preparations for the treatment of cardiovascular conditions". The opponents registered mark URION in Class 5 has a specification reading "medical products for the treatment of benign prostate hypertrophy". The Hearing Officer compared the respective goods and in the absence of evidence from either party as to their exact nature, he decided that they were at the borders of similarity.

In his comparison of the respective marks ETURION and URION the Hearing Officer concluded that there was some degree of similarity only because the opponent's mark was contained within the applicant's mark. Taking an overall view of the goods and marks the Hearing officer concluded that there was no likelihood of confusion and that the opposition failed.

Full decision O/242/03 33Kb