A semelhança concetual das marcas: comentário da Sentença do Tribunal de Justiça da União Europeia, de 20 de novembro de 2014, no caso «Golden Balls v. Ballon d´Or»

Abstract

Within the registration process as a Community trade mark of the sign «Golden Balls», it has been raised the question of whether that sign is conceptually similar to the earlier trade mark «Ballon d’Or». The EU General Court held – in a diff erent sense from the decision of the 1st Board of Appeal – that between that sign and the earlier mark «Ballon d’Or» there is a very slight conceptual similarity, which is not suffi cient to declare the susceptibility of confusion of the average European consumer. The ECJ considered the issue on appeal, and this comment analyses this decision and, in particular, the assessment criteria of the conceptual similarity of the trade marks.