Het Gerecht bevestigt de nietigverklaring van het Gemeenschapsbeeldmerk met woordelement “AL BUSTAN” voor etenswaren van de klassen 29, 30 en 31 en dranken in de klasse 32. Deze nietigverklaring is gebaseerd op het oudere Griekse beeldmerk “AL BUSTAN” voor o.m. tomatenpasta en andere producten, gemaakt van tomaten. De merkhouder van dit oudere merk heeft op grond van foto’s van een verpakking, een label en facturen voldoende aangetoond dat er sprake is van normaal gebruik van het oudere merk.
60 Contrary to the applicant’s claims, the Board of Appeal did not base its findings on mere probabilities or suppositions, but cross‑checked the various items of evidence submitted by Asteris and deduced from that accumulation of items of evidence that there had been genuine use of the earlier mark during the relevant period.
61 In the light of the case-law cited at paragraphs 35 and 36 above, the Board of Appeal was entitled to take the view that the combination of the photographs and other items of evidence, taken as a whole, constituted evidence of genuine use of the earlier mark during the relevant period.
67 That is not the case here. Asteris provided a number of third party documents, such as certificates of origin or shipment records, as well as invoices, on the basis of which it was possible to establish the sale of a significant quantity of cans of tomato paste bearing the ALBUSTAN trade mark. The evidence produced in the present case was therefore sufficient to establish the extent of use of the earlier mark.
Lees het arrest hier.