For the whole decision click here: o20302
Result
Appeal dismissed
Points Of Interest
Summary
The appellants argued that whilst the Hearing Officer had correctly directed himself as to the approach to be adopted, he had erred in his application of that approach. In particular, he had failed to take into account the fact that the goods were identical, and he had failed to take into account the fact that the first five letters of the marks were identical and the opposing mark had only six letters.
Mr Thorley, however, felt that this was really a submission that "another reasoning Hearing Officer might have come to a different conclusion." He was unable to identify "any error of principle on the part of (the Hearing Officer) such that his tribunal should review his decision". He therefore dismissed the appeal, but remarked that in his opinion the two marks applied for were "significantly different" both from each other and from the opponents' mark and should have been considered separately.