Trademark Caselaw | Chile | UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Trademark Opposition Goes to Court
INAPI, Chile's patent and trademark office, recently dismissed UEFA’s opposition against trademark application No. 1325654, for SUPER CHAMPIÑONES LEAGUE (Logo) in classes 29 and 31.
Logo as filed with INAPI, by Mr. Cristian Marcelo Schinadeerman Tabilo, under No. 1325654
In its February 19 ruling, INAPI found that despite holding a trademark registration UEFA CAHMPIONS LEAGUE (Logo) covering goods in class 29, and even though there is a clear connection between the goods identified with the conflicting marks, the marks themselves were not confusingly similar.
UEFA’S registered mark, registered under No. 1103508 identified goods/dervices in classes 4, 9, 12, 16, 25, 28, 29, 32, 36, 38, 40 and 41
In finding that the conflicting marks were not confusingly similar, INAPI stated that, although both marks shared the term LEAGUE, the rest of the elements thereof were different, i.e. i) the terms CHAMPIONS in the registered mark versus the term CHAMPIÑONES in he proposed mark; ii) the acronym UEFA in the registered mark versus the term SUPER in the proposed mark; and iii) different typographies, which made for different logos.
Furthermore, INAPI stated that even though the opponent was successful in establishing its trademark’s well-known status in connection with the organization of sports competitions, such status was not established in connection with goods in class 29 and consumers could differentiate both marks.
The opponent had also claimed protection against what it deemed to be an act of unfair competition by the applicant, which was also dismissed by INAPI which stated that the sole existence of similarities between the conflicting marks was not enough to verify that the applicant tried to benefit from the well-known status of the opponent’s trademark.
UEFA appealed INAPI’s decision on April 17, and the case was sent to the Intellectual Property Court.
Click here to request a copy of INAPI’s decision, or in case you require any additional information.
