TRADEMARK | EUIPO Board of Appeal on similarity between alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages

On 24 January 2025, the EUIPO Board of Appeal (“BoA”) issued its decision (the “Decision”) in case R1426/2024-5 and refused the registration of the trademark “KINGSMAN” applied for several goods in Class 32 of the Nice Classification  (including non-alcoholic beverages) due to the likelihood of confusion with the earlier sign “KINGSMAN” registered inter alia for goods in Class 33 (alcoholic beverages other than beers). While assessing the likelihood of confusion, the BoA found that the applicant’s non-alcoholic beverages were “similar at least to a low degree” to the opponent’s alcoholic beverages. Indeed, even if at first glance alcoholic and soft drinks can be considered dissimilar products, the BoA demonstrated that focusing exclusively on the presence of one ingredient, alcohol, would excessively simplify the assessment of similarity. According to the BoA, non-alcoholic beverages may often be perceived by consumers as alternatives to alcoholic ones and, in this context, allowing the use of an identical sign to another company inevitably creates a risk of confusion. The Decision highlights the importance of adopting a flexible approach when assessing the similarity between goods and services.

Newsletter n. 104 – February 2025