For the whole decision click here: o37602
Result
Appeal dismissed
Points Of Interest
Summary
At first instance the Hearing Officer had found the opponents successful in their opposition under Section 5(2)(b), even taking the honest concurrent use into account as a relevant factor (see BL O/379/01).
At a preliminary hearing the Appointed Person had refused the appellants request to amend the grounds and adduce further evidence (see BL O/215/02).
The Appointed Person concluded (i) that the Hearing Officer had been right to consider a notional use across the breadth of the specifications; (ii) had been right to conclude that the evidence did not displace his prima facie finding of a likelihood of confusion and (iii) was not obliged to point out deficiencies in the evidence in any preliminary view: (in any case, said the Appointed Person, the opponents had signalled those deficiencies and the applicants had therefore had an opportunity to address them prior to the main hearing).
The appeal was therefore dismissed.