OPPOSITION No B 2 696 576

Gaston, s.r.o., Kvítková No. 4703, 76001 Zlín, Czech republic (opponent)

a g a i n s t

Monfis, Avenue Orban 231, 1150 Bruxelles, Belgium (applicant), represented by Sybarius, Chaussée de Waterloo 880, 1000 Brussels, Belgium professional representative).

On 03/08/2016, the Opposition Division takes the following

DECISION:

1. Opposition No B 2 696 576 is rejected as inadmissible.

2. The opposition fee will not be refunded.

REASONS:

The opponent filed an opposition against some of the goods of European Union trade mark application No 15 017 205 for the word ‘GASTON’, namely against all the goods in Classes 30 and 32. The opposition is based on Czech trade mark registration No 947 24. The opponent invoked Article 8(1) (b) EUTMR.

ADMISSIBILITY

According to Rule 15(2)(e) EUTMIR, the notice of opposition shall contain a representation of the earlier mark as registered or applied for; if the earlier mark is in colour, the representation shall be in colour. This applies especially when a registration certificate or extract from an official source is not attached to the opposition notice.

Furthermore, according to Rule 15(2)(f) EUTMIR, the notice of opposition shall 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. In addition, the opponent did not submit any representation of the earlier trade mark, neither it indicated the relevant registration date.

According to Rule 15(2)(d) EUTMIR, the notice of opposition shall contain the filing date and, where available, the registration date and the priority date of the earlier mark, unless it is an unregistered well-known trade mark.

Pursuant 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 shall inform the opponent accordingly and shall 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 shall reject the opposition as inadmissible.

The Office informed the opponent of the deficiencies in its notification dated 04/05/2016 and at the same time set a time limit of two months, until 04/07/2016, to remedy these deficiencies, namely to provide the registration date and the representation of the earlier trade mark as well as the indication of goods and services on which the opposition is based in the language of the opposition proceedings, that is English.

The opponent did not reply within the prescribed time limit.

Therefore, the opposition must be rejected as inadmissible.

Please note that the opposition fee will not be refunded. In accordance with Rule 18(5) EUTMIR, the Office only refunds the opposition fee in view of a withdrawal and/or restriction of the trade mark during the cooling-off period.

The Opposition Division

Renata COTTRELL

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.