The General court of the EU ruled in case T-579/15, For Tune versus EUIPO. In this case For Tune applied for the following EU trademark:
The mark was filed for the following goods:
– Class 35: ‘Advertising; business management; business administration; office functions’ and all the services of the alphabetical list in this class;
– Class 41: ‘Education; providing of training; entertainment; sporting and cultural activities’ and all the services of the alphabetical list in this class;
Against this application was filed an opposition by German company based on an earlier ‘FORTUNE-HOTELS’ mark for the same classes.
According to the applicant, there isn’t any similarity between both signs taking into account the fact that the later mark consists of two elements FOR and TUNE distinguished by the red color.
What the General court and EUIPO considered, however, was that both marks are phonetically, visual and conceptional similar due to the shared element FORTUNE, which meaning is known in Germany. The color used in the later mark and the word Hotels in the earlier mark weren’t enough to make the necessary difference between the signs.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PLANET 