DONNA MARIA | Decision 2782640 - ORKLA FOODS ROMANIA S.A. v. Phoenician Eagle Group S.A.L. (Holding)

Date Published: Oct 1, 2017

OPPOSITION No B 2 782 640

Orkla Foods Romania S.A., str Copilului, nr 14-18, etaj 2, sector 1, Bucuresti, Romania (opponent)

a g a i n s t

Phoenician Eagle Group S.A.L. (Holding), 164 Dabbas street, 4th Floor, Saifi Village, Beirut, Liban (applicant), represented by Società Italiana Brevetti S.P.A., Corso dei Tintori 25, 50122 Firenze, Italy (professional representative).

On 12/04/2017, the Opposition Division takes the following

DECISION:

1.        Opposition No B 2 782 640 is rejected in its entirety.

2.        The opponent bears the costs, fixed at EUR 300.

REASONS:

The opponent filed an opposition against all the goods of European Union trade mark application No 15 632 649, namely against all the goods in Classes 29 and 30. The opposition is based on following trade mark registrations:

(1) Romanian trade mark registration No 43 447A;

(2) Romanian trade mark registration No 43 447B;

(3) Romanian trade mark registration No 122 364; 

(4) Romanian trade mark registration No 135 554.

The opponent invoked Article 8(1)(b) and 8(5) EUTMR.

(1) RO No 43 447A (2) RO No 43 447B (3) RO No 122 364  (4) RO No 135 554
Earlier trade marks	Contested sign

ADMISSIBILITY

According to Rule 15(2)(f) EUTMIR, the notice of opposition must indicate the goods and services on which the opposition is based.

In the present case, there is no indication of the goods and services on which the opposition is based for earlier Romanian trade marks registrations No 43 447A and No 43 447B.

According to Rule 17(3) EUTMIR, where the opponent submits an incomplete translation, the part of the notice of opposition that has not been translated will not be taken into account in the examination of admissibility.

As regards the earlier Romanian trade marks registrations No 122 364 and No 135 554, the goods and services on which the opposition is based have been indicated in a language other than the language of the opposition proceedings. According to Article 119(5) and (6) EUTMR, this information has to be provided in the language of the opposition proceedings, namely English.

According to Rule 17(4) EUTMIR, if the notice of opposition does not comply with the provisions of Rule 15 EUTMIR (other than those referred to in paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 of Rule 17 EUTMIR), the Office will inform the opponent accordingly and invite him to remedy the deficiencies noted within a period of two months. If the deficiencies are not remedied before this time limit expires, the Office will reject the opposition as inadmissible.

The Office informed the opponent of the deficiencies in its notification dated 28/10/2016. The opponent was set a time limit of two months, until 09/01/2017, to remedy the deficiencies namely to indicate the goods and services on which the opposition is based for earlier Romanian trade marks registrations No 43 447A and No 43 447B and to translate in English the goods and services of the earlier Romanian trade marks registrations No 122 364 and No 135 554.

The opponent did not reply within the prescribed time limit.

The opposition must therefore, be rejected as inadmissible for all the earlier Romanian trade mark registrations.

COSTS

According to Article 85(1) EUTMR, the losing party in opposition proceedings must bear the fees and costs incurred by the other party.

Since the opponent is the losing party, it must bear the costs incurred by the applicant in the course of these proceedings.

According to Rule 94(3) and Rule 94(7)(d)(ii) EUTMIR, the costs to be paid to the applicant are the costs of representation which are to be fixed on the basis of the maximum rate set therein.

The Opposition Division

Cristina CRESPO MOLTO

Francesca DINU

Janja FELC

According to Article 59 EUTMR, any party adversely affected by this decision has a right to appeal against this decision. According to Article 60 EUTMR, notice of appeal must be filed in writing at the Office within two months of the date of notification of this decision. It must be filed in the language of the proceedings in which the decision subject to appeal was taken. Furthermore, a written statement of the grounds of appeal must be filed within four months of the same date. The notice of appeal will be deemed to be filed only when the appeal fee of EUR 720 has been paid.

The amount determined in the fixation of the costs may only be reviewed by a decision of the Opposition Division on request. According to Rule 94(4) EUTMIR, such a request must be filed within one month from the date of notification of this fixation of costs and will be deemed to be filed only when the review fee of EUR 100 (Annex I A(33) EUTMR) has been paid.