Citroën loses trademark opposition before UKIPO
French automobile maker Citroën has lost a dispute before the UK Intellectual Property Office ( IPO) after it opposed a trademark registered by a Chinese competitor.
In a decision on Tuesday, June 4, the IPO said there was “no likelihood of confusion” between two of Citroën's earlier trademarks and Nio Nextev’s applied-for mark.
Nio applied to register its mark in November 2017 in 14 classes, covering a wide range of goods and services such as sports cars, electric vehicles, clothing, telecommunications and scientific and technological services.
The figurative mark consists of a “broad half-ring open at its underside and appearing directly above an inverted ‘v’ shape with a flattened top”.
Citroën said in its opposition that the mark would infringe two of its earlier trademarks in 10 of the classes they are registered in. The first earlier mark is for a silver double chevron. The second mark is identical, with the addition of the word ‘Citroën’ in a red font.
In its decision, the IPO rejected Citroën’s argument that both its earlier marks and the applied-for mark consist of double chevron.
It said that because of the “close proximity” of the two elements of Nio’s mark, the mark would be perceived as a single unit.
“Even if I am wrong and Nio's mark will be perceived as consisting of two elements, the element positioned at the top of the mark is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a chevron,” said Mark Bryant, the principal hearing officer.
Bryant agreed with Nio, which said its applied-for mark does not consist of two chevrons, but rather a semicircle on a two-legged stand.
In its judgment, the IPO found that Citroën's earlier marks have an enhanced level of distinctiveness due to “extensive use over many decades”, and that the goods and services covered by both Citroën and Nio’s marks are identical.
But, it said the lack of visual similarity “and the absence of aural and conceptual similarity is more than sufficient to offset this”.
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