Freely Available British and Irish Public Legal Information
[Home] [Databases] [World Law] [Multidatabase Search] [Help] [Feedback]
United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office Decisions
You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office Decisions >> TRIAGRA (Trade Mark: Opposition) [2002] UKIntelP o40502 (14 October 2002)
URL: http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKIntelP/2002/o40502.html
Cite as: [2002] UKIntelP o40502
[New search] [Printable PDF version] [Help]
TRIAGRA (Trade Mark: Opposition) [2002] UKIntelP o40502 (14 October 2002)
For the whole decision click here: o40502
Trade mark decision
- BL Number
- O/405/02
- Decision date
- 14 October 2002
- Hearing officer
- Mr D Landau
- Mark
- TRIAGRA
- Classes
- 05
- Applicant
- Y2K Shipping & Trading Inc
- Opponent
- Pfizer Products Inc
- Opposition
- Sections 5(2)(b); 5(3) & 5(4)(a)
Result
Section 5(2)(b) - Opposition successful.
Section 5(3) - Opposition failed.
Section 5(4)(a) - Opposition successful.
Points Of Interest
- 1. The risk that the public might believe that the goods came from economically –linked undertakings overcame the dissimilarity in the marks TRIAGRA v VIAGRA.
Summary
The opposition was based on the opponents’ mark VIAGRA. The Hearing Officer found the goods to be similar but the marks, he concluded, had a "low degree of similarity". Nevertheless, on a "global assessment" he considered that there was a risk that the public might believe that the goods came from the same undertaking and hence there was a likelihood of confusion. The opposition under Section 5(2)(b) succeeded accordingly.
Under Section 5(3) he found that use of the trade mark in suit would undoubtedly have damaged the repute of VIAGRA, but given that the goods were similar, that ground had to fail.
Finally, under Section 5(4)(a), he found the opponents again to have succeeded.