For the whole decision click here: o17298
Result
Section 3(1)(b) - opposition failed
Section 5(2)(b) - opposition sucessful
Points Of Interest
Summary
The Hearing Officer felt there might be some force in the opponents’ contention that the prefix SYNTH or SYNT alludes to the nature of the goods but he did not consider that the material before him gave him a sufficiently strong basis to decide the point in the opponents’ favour. The ground under Section 3 failed, therefore. Under Section 5(2)(b) the Hearing Officer noted the large number of marks on the Register, in Class 5, having SYNT as the first syllable, eg SYNTEX , SYNTEL. He decided that it was the differences in the marks as totalities which distinguished them one from another. It seemed therefore that confusion could arise (bearing in mind the goods were identical) in oral use. The opposition therefore succeeded.