EUIPO: WORTIE lijkt niet op WARTNER

EUIPO 23 maart 2016, IEF 15807; IEFbe 1742; B 2 404 344 (Wartner tegen YouMedical)
Merkenrecht. Het door YouMedical aangevraagd merk WORTIE komt nauwelijks overeen met WARTNER waarop de oppositie is gebaseerd. De overeenkomsten (een W en RT) worden overstemd door door de verschillen.

p.13: As for the degree of similarity between the signs 'WARTNER' and 'WORTIE', they have only very low visual and aural similarities. Although they share letters in common, the latter only results in limited similarities between the trade marks as they are counterbalanced by their differences. Hence, although both signs begin with the letter 'W', it is associated with distinct vowel, namely 'A' in in the earlier mark and 'O' in the contested mark. As for the common consonants 'RT', although pronounced in the same manner, they are situated in the middle of the signs, an area where consumers generally tend to focus less when being confronted with a trade mark. Moreover, the endings of the signs differ quite considerably 'TIE/TNER', notably because the earlier mark finishes on the consonant 'R' whereas the contested mark finises on the vowel 'E'. Furthermore, the vowel structure of each sign is significantly divergent, that is '*A**E*' in the earlier mark (two vowels) versus '*O**IE' in the contested sign (three vowels). Moreover, though sharing the only vowel 'E' this is in a different place in each sign, namely penultimate position in the earlier mark and the last position in the contested sign. As a result and as seen before there is no likelihood of confusion between the signs. (...)