Trade mark decision

BL Number

O/279/07

Decision date

24 September 2007

Hearing Officer

Mr M Reynolds

Mark

IMAGE BEYOND IMAGINATION

Classes

09

Applicants

Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Opponents

Thomson

Opposition

Section 5(2)(b)

Result

Section 5(2)(b): Opposition Successful

Points Of Interest

• Reliance on judgements in other jurisdictions; “if the position should be considered different in the UK it was open to the applicant to deal with the matter through evidence or submissions”.

Summary

The opposition was based on the opponents’ CTM, IMAGE AND BEYOND , in Classes 9, 35, 38 and 41. The Hearing Officer described the applied for specification as “cryptic in terms of meaning”, and was forced to rely reluctantly on the judgement of a French court in parallel opposition proceedings. This appeared to confirm that identical goods were involved. He found the marks to be “similar to a significant, but not the highest degree”. Overall, he found a likelihood of confusion and the opposition succeeded accordingly.

Full decision O/279/07 34Kb