China Construction Bank prevails in CJEU TM appeal

One of China’s largest financial institutions has won a trademark victory over a French banking network at the EU’s top court.

In a  decision issued last Thursday, June 11, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) annulled an earlier decision of the EU’s IP office in favour of the  Groupement des cartes bancaires (CB).

The dispute arose initially when  China Construction Bank, the  second-largest bank in the world, filed to register its logo, featuring the acronym ‘CCB’, as a trademark with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) in 2014.

CB, a network of French banks that operate ATMs throughout the country, opposed the application on the grounds that consumers were likely to confuse the two brands.

The French interbank network has its own EU trademark for ‘CB’, covering financial services.

The EUIPO ruled in CB’s favour, finding that even consumers paying a high level of attention might be confused by the similarity between the trademarks. This was based partly on the “highly distinctive” character of CB’s mark in France.

China Construction Bank filed two unsuccessful appeals to the original refusal of its trademark application; first at an EUIPO appeals board, and then at the EU General Court, each of which affirmed the reasoning behind the initial decision.

The Chinese bank then filed its final appeal at the CJEU, which last week reversed the previous decisions in CB’s favour.

According to the CJEU, neither the EUIPO or General Court sufficiently explained why it had found the ‘CB’ trademark to be highly distinctive for financial and banking services.

The General Court had cited evidence which showed the mark to be distinctive only for bank card payment services, the CJEU found.

This didn’t meet the General Court’s obligation to clearly state the reasoning behind its decisions, it added.

Did you enjoy reading this story?  Sign up to our free daily newsletters and get stories sent like this straight to your inbox.