Trade mark decision
- BL Number
- O/254/07
- Decision date
- 3 September 2007
- Appointed Person
- Mr Richard Arnold QC
- Mark
- TOP HOME (stylised)
- Classes
- 34
- Applicant
- Quelle Aktiengesellschaft
- Opponent
- Republic Technologies (NA) LLC
- Opposition
- Section 5(2)(b)
Result
Section 5(2)(b): Appeal dismissed.
Points Of Interest
- None
Summary
This was an appeal of the Hearing Officer’s decision dated 2 February 2007 (BL O/040/07) in which he dismissed the opponent’s opposition.
On appeal the opponent submitted that the Hearing Officer had erred in his assessment of the distinctive character of the opponent’s mark; had failed to compare the respective marks correctly and had failed to apply the interdependency principal as regards possible confusion.
The Appointed Person carefully reviewed the Hearing Officer’s decision and accepted that it might have been better worded. However, he agreed with the Hearing Officer’s view that the opponent’s mark TOP lacked distinctive character and that its stylisation added little. It was essentially a TOP mark.
As regards the comparison of the respective marks TOP (stylised) and TOP HOME (stylised) the appointed Person believed that the Hearing Officer had correctly taken all the relevant factors into account and had reached the right decision that the respective marks were not similar. As regards the confusion of the public aspect the Hearing Officer had in fact applied the interdependency principle and had reached the right conclusion. Appeal dismissed.
Full decision O/254/07 
70Kb
