Red Bull won an opposition against the following UK trademark application in Class 11 – barbecue smokers and grills, pellet smokers and grills.
The opposition was based on an earlier word mark RED BULL and the following figurative mark, both in Class11:
According to the the UKIPO, there is a phonetic similarity between the sign which shares identical first part Red Bull. The presence of the words BBQ Grills in the later mark is not sufficient to differentiate them due to its lack of distinctiveness.
From a conceptual point of view, both marks are highly similar wheres from a visual side they are not because of the different graphical representations.
The earlier marks are within their 5 year period for use, so there is no need for a genuine use to be proved although Red Bull doesn’t use its trademarks for such goods.
In its conclusion, the Patent Office summarized that the signs at hand are similar to the extent that they can lead consumers to think that the goods are produced by the same or an economically linked undertaking.
Source: WIPR.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PLANET 