OPPOSITION No B 2 855 909

Google LLC, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, 94043 Mountain View, United States of America (opponent), represented by Carlos Polo & Asociados, Profesor Waksman, 10, 28036 Madrid, Spain (professional representative)

a g a i n s t

Sociedad Española De Radiodifusion S.L., Calle Gran Via 32; 28013, Madrid, Spain (applicant), represented by Polopatent, Dr. Fleming 16, 28036 Madrid, Spain (professional representative).

On 28/05/2018, the Opposition Division takes the following

DECISION:

1. Opposition No B 2 855 909 is upheld for all the contested services.

2. European Union trade mark application No 6 216 021 is rejected in its entirety.

3. The applicant bears the costs, fixed at EUR 620.

PRELIMINARY REMARK

As from 01/10/2017, Regulation (EC) No 207/2009 and Regulation (EC) No 2868/95 have been repealed and replaced by Regulation (EU) 2017/1001 (codification), Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/1430 and Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/1431, subject to certain transitional provisions. Further, as from 14/05/2018, Delegated Regulation (EU) 2017/1430 and Implementing Regulation (EU) 2017/1431 have been codified and repealed by Delegated Regulation (EU) 2018/625 and Implementing Regulation (EU) 2018/626. All the references in this decision to the EUTMR, EUTMDR and EUTMIR shall be understood as references to the Regulations currently in force, except where expressly indicated otherwise.

REASONS

The opponent filed an opposition against all the services of European Union trade mark application No 6 216 021 for the figurative mark . The opposition is based on European Union trade mark registration No 13 573 423 for the word mark ‘YOUTUBE MUSIC KEY’, European Union trade mark registration No 13 578 786 for the word mark ‘YOUTUBE CLE MUSIQUE’, International registration designating European Union No 991 364 for the figurative mark , European Union trade mark registration No 5 227 251 for the figurative mark , International registration designating European Union No 897 049 for the word mark ‘YouTube’, European Union trade mark registration No 5 226 964 for the word mark ‘YouTube’, Spanish trade mark registration No 2 748 754 for the word mark ‘YOUTUBE’, European Union trade mark registration No 14 493 753 for the figurative mark , European Union trade mark registration No 12 177 366 for the figurative mark The opponent invoked Article 8(1)(b) and Article 8(5) EUTMR.

REPUTATION — ARTICLE 8(5) EUTMR

For reasons of procedural economy, the Opposition Division will first examine the opposition in relation to earlier EUTM trade mark No 5 227 251 , for which the opponent claimed repute in the EU.

According to Article 8(5) EUTMR, upon opposition by the proprietor of a registered earlier trade mark within the meaning of Article 8(2) EUTMR, the contested trade mark will not be registered where it is identical with, or similar to, an earlier trade mark, irrespective of whether the goods or services for which it is applied are identical with, similar to or not similar to those for which the earlier trade mark is registered, where, in the case of an earlier European Union trade mark, the trade mark has a reputation in the Union or, in the case of an earlier national trade mark, the trade mark has a reputation in the Member State concerned and where the use without due cause of the contested trade mark would take unfair advantage of, or be detrimental to, the distinctive character or the repute of the earlier trade mark.

Therefore, the grounds for refusal of Article 8(5) EUTMR are only applicable when the following conditions are met.

• The signs must be either identical or similar.

• The opponent’s trade mark must have a reputation. The reputation must also be prior to the filing of the contested trade mark; it must exist in the territory concerned and for the goods and/or services on which the opposition is based.

• Risk of injury: use of the contested trade mark would take unfair advantage of, or be detrimental to, the distinctive character or repute of the earlier trade mark.

The abovementioned requirements are cumulative and, therefore, the absence of any one of them will lead to the rejection of the opposition under Article 8(5) EUTMR (16/12/2010, T‑345/08 & T‑357/08, Botolist / Botocyl, EU:T:2010:529, § 41). However, the fulfilment of all the abovementioned conditions may not be sufficient. The opposition may still fail if the applicant establishes due cause for the use of the contested trade mark.

In the present case, the applicant did not claim to have due cause for using the contested mark. Therefore, in the absence of any indications to the contrary, it must be assumed that no due cause exists.

1. Reputation of the earlier trade mark

According to the opponent, the earlier trade mark has a reputation in the European Union.

Reputation implies a knowledge threshold that is reached only when the earlier mark is known by a significant part of the relevant public for the goods or services it covers. The relevant public is, depending on the goods or services marketed, either the public at large or a more specialised public.

In the present case, the contested trade mark was filed on 30/12/2016. Therefore, the opponent was required to prove that the trade mark on which the opposition is based had acquired a reputation in the European Union prior to that date. The evidence must also show that the reputation was acquired for the services for which the opponent has claimed reputation, namely

Class 35: Promotional services on behalf of others; promotional services in the form of online entertainment and education; promotional services in the form of sharing of multimedia content via the Internet and other computer and communications networks.

Class 38: Broadcasting services, namely, uploading, posting, showing, displaying, tagging, blogging, sharing or otherwise providing electronic media or information over the Internet or other communications network; broadcasting services; webcasting services; providing a video sharing portal; electronic communication services; transmission of messages, data and content via the Internet and other computer and communications networks; providing online forums, chat rooms, journals, blogs, and listservers for the transmission of messages, comments and multimedia content among users; transmission of electronic media, multimedia content, videos, movies, pictures, images, text, photos, games, user-generated content, audio content, and information via the Internet and other computer and communications networks; providing online community forums for users to post, search, watch, share, critique, rate, and comment on, videos, and other multimedia content; providing digital program distribution of audio and video broadcasts over a global computer network; providing a video sharing portal for entertainment and education purposes

Class 41: Education services for providing electronic media or information over the Internet or other communications network; entertainment services, namely, providing multimedia content or information over the Internet and (or) other communications network; entertainment services; educational services; entertainment and educational services featuring electronic media, multimedia content, videos, movies, pictures, images, text, photos, games, user-generated content, audio content, and related information via computer and communications networks; entertainment and educational services; digital video, audio and multimedia entertainment publishing services; online digital publishing services.

Class 42: Application provider services (ASP); providing access to non-downloadable software; providing access to non-downloadable software to enable uploading, downloading, capturing, posting, showing, editing, playing, streaming, viewing, previewing, displaying, tagging, blogging, sharing, manipulating, distributing, publishing, reproducing, or otherwise providing electronic media, multimedia content, videos, movies, pictures, images, text, photos, games, user-generated content, audio content, and information via the Internet and other computer and communications networks; providing access to non-downloadable software to enable sharing of multimedia content and comments among users; providing access to non-downloadable software to enable content providers to track multimedia content; hosting multimedia content for others; hosting multimedia entertainment and educational content for others. ...Show more software to enable uploading, downloading, capturing, posting, showing, editing, playing, streaming, viewing, previewing, displaying, tagging, blogging, sharing, manipulating, distributing, publishing, reproducing, or otherwise providing electronic media, multimedia content, videos, movies, pictures, images, text, photos, games, user-generated content, audio content, and information via the Internet and other computer and communications networks; providing access to non-downloadable software to enable sharing of multimedia content and comments among users; providing access to non-downloadable software to enable content providers to track multimedia content; hosting multimedia content for others; hosting multimedia entertainment and educational content for others.

The opposition is directed against the following services

Class 35: Advertising; business management; business administration; office function services; organization of exhibitions for commercial or advertising purposes; dissemination of advertising matter; demonstration of goods; commercial information agencies; sales promotion (for others); radio advertising; television advertising; rental of advertising space; presentation of goods on communication media, for retail purposes; business advice and information to consumers; arranging newspaper subscriptions for others; commercial administration of the licensing of the goods and services of others; writing of publicity texts; layout services for advertising purposes.

Class 38: Emission dissemination, transmission and broadcasting of radio and television programmes; emission, dissemination, transmission and broadcasting of interactive radio and television programmes; emission, dissemination, transmission and broadcasting of radio and television programmes via satellite; emission, dissemination, transmission and broadcasting of radio and television programmes relayed via cable link to television receivers; emission, dissemination, transmission and broadcasting of radio and television programmes via extra-terrestrial satellite; emission, dissemination, transmission and broadcasting of radio and television programmes relayed by microwave link to television receivers; interactive telecommunications to enable the pre-selection of programmes for viewing, to enable the recording of television programmes, to enable the automatic recording of programmes according to customers' viewing habits/preferences, enabling the pre-selection of programmes; reception of television programmes for onward transmission to subscribers; wireless transmission and broadcasting of television programmes; radio broadcasting of information and other programs; broadcasting of programmes via the internet; broadcasting of teleshopping programmes; emission, dissemination, transmission and broadcasting of programmes via local computer networks; electronic transmission of computer programs via the internet; pay-per-view television transmission services.

Class 41: Editing and production services of radio and television programmes; organisation and/or production of shows; organisation of radio and television entertainment; videotape production; film production; production of radio or television programmes; news reporters services; photographic reporting; television entertainment; radio and television entertainment; production of shows; videotaping; publication of electronic books and journals online; use of on-line electronic publications (not downloadable by data transmission); club services (entertainment or education); arranging and conducting of colloquiums, entertainment, telephone entertainment; games offered on-line on a computer network; entertainment; page layout not for advertising purposes.

In order to determine the mark’s level of reputation, all the relevant facts of the case must be taken into consideration, including, in particular, the market share held by the trade mark, the intensity, geographical extent and duration of its use, and the size of the investment made by the undertaking in promoting it.

The opponent submitted evidence to support this claim. As the opponent requested that certain commercial data contained in the evidence be kept confidential vis-à-vis third parties, the Opposition Division will describe the evidence only in the most general terms without divulging any such data. The evidence consists, inter alia, of the following documents:

• Several decisions of the Spanish Patents and Trade Marks Office in different opposition proceedings initiated by the opponent (Doc B) which recognize the reputation/well-known character of the /YouTube/ marks rejecting the contested marks, in particular:

• Decision of the Spanish Patents and Trade Marks Office of 09/12/2015, rejecting Spanish trade mark application No 3 615 501 in Classes 35, 38 and 41 where it is underlined, inter alia, that 'use of the trademark application could be detrimental to the distinctive character of the opposing mark and could take unfair advantage of the reputation and well-known character of the opposing marks’ (among which European Union trade mark registration No 5 227 251 for the figurative mark ).

• Decision of the Board of Appeal of the Spanish Patents and Trade Marks Office of 12/06/2017 confirming the refusal refusing registration to rejecting Spanish trade mark application 3 615 501 in classes 35, 38 and 41, according to which 'the granting of the applied sign may imply a detriment to the distinctive character of the Opposing mark and an unfair advantage of the well-known character of the opposing marks (among which European Union trade mark registration No 5 227 251 for the figurative mark )

• Decision of the Board of Appeal of the Spanish Patents and Trade Marks Office rejecting Spanish trade mark application No 3 516 800 (VOICESTUBE) in class 45, according to which, given that between the symbols at issue there is an obvious phonetic, verbal and conceptual similarity and a manifest relationship between the business areas in which their effects are deployed, this would generate a likelihood of association among consumers in general.

• Decision of the Spanish Patents and Trade Marks Office of 15/11/2013, rejecting Spanish trade mark application No 3 076 881, 'TOPYOUTUBERS' in class 38, according to which the trademark application would take unfair advantage of and be detrimental to the opposing marks which are reputed and well-known (among which European Union trade mark registration No 5 227 251 for the figurative mark )

• Decision of the Spanish Patents and Trade Marks Office of 30/01/2015, rejecting Spanish trade mark application No 3 516 955 taking into the account the reputation and well-known character of the opposing marks in the relevant sector of the public to whom the services are directed (among which European Union trade mark registration No 5 227 251 for the figurative mark )

• Decision of the Spanish Patents and Trade Marks Office of 19/06/2013, rejecting Spanish trade mark application No 3 051 455 in class 41 taking into account that the trademark application would take unfair advantage of the reputation of the opposing signs (among which European Union trade mark registration No 5 227 251 for the figurative mark )

• Decision of the Spanish Patents and Trade Marks Office of 11/10/2013, rejecting Spanish trade mark application No 3 072 732 for services in Class 38 because the trademark application could take unfair advantage of the well-known character acquired by the opposing mark (among which European Union trade mark registration No 5 227 251 for the figurative mark )

• Decision of the Spanish Patents and Trade Marks Office of 11/12/2013, rejecting Spanish trade mark application No 3 082 320, 'YOUFEST' in view of the fact that the trademark application takes unfair advantage of and is detrimental to the interests of the opponent, whose trademark is reputed and well-known.

• Affidavit issued by Emily Burns, Senior Trademark Counsel of Google (Doc. C), containing information on the mark ‘YouTube’. According to this affidavit the mark ‘YouTube’ is used to identify a reputed and well-known video sharing platform with currently more than 1,5 billion logged in users who visit ‘YouTube’ each month which means that almost one third of all people on the Internet visit ‘YouTube’ each month. The Affidavit also contains information related to partnership programs of ‘YouTube’ with other media corporations, and other activities launched by ‘YouTube’ such as ‘Google preferred’ in 2014, ‘True view’ for advertising campaign in 2015 and ‘YouTube KIDS’ a video service designed for kids in 2015. Moreover, the affidavit contains data about the growth of ‘mobile usage’ and the percentage of ‘YouTube’ videos viewed from mobile devices as of April 2016 underlining the success achieved by YouTube app.

• Printout from https://www.youtube.com/yt/about/press/ providing the ‘YouTube’ statistics (Doc. C): ‘….YouTube has over a billion users — almost one-third of all people on the Internet — and each day those users watch a billion of video, generating billions of views; YouTube overall, and even YouTube on mobile alone, reaches more 18-34 and 18-49 year-olds than any cable network in the US; More than half of YouTube views come from mobile devices; YouTube has launched local versions in more than 88 countries; You can navigate YouTube in a total of 76 different languages (covering 95% of the Internet population); … The number of channels earning six figures per year on YouTube is up 50% y/y; The YouTube Spaces team is focused on helping creators make great content through strategic programs and workshops largely administered at the YouTube Space production facilities in Los Angeles, New York, London, Tokyo, Sao Paulo and Berlin; As of March 2015, creators filming in YouTube Spaces have produced over 10,000 videos which have generated over 1 billion views and 70+ million hours of watchtime….’.

• Brand Rankings And Statistics (Doc. C):

• Statista, one of the leading statistics companies on the Internet. https://www.statista.com/topics/2019/youtube/ ‘YouTube is a videosharing platform featuring a wide variety of user-generated and corporate media content, including music videos, TV clips and other video clips such as video blogs, Let's Play gaming videos, short original videos and educational content. As of July 2015, more than 400 hours of video content were uploaded to YouTube every minute and according to YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, more than 1 billion hours of content are consumed on the platform every single day as of March 2017. Popular types of YouTube content include music videos – in February 2017, the most viewed YouTube’.

Statistics on the ‘Popularity of YouTube in selected European countries’ in November 2014, by reach of internet audience’ such as Poland (74%), Hungary (71%), Romania (70%) and Denmark (57%).

Statistics on the ‘Usage penetration of YouTube in global regions as of 3rd quarter 2015’. These statistics give information on the global YouTube audience reach. As of the third quarter of 2015, 81 % internet users in Europe had used the digital video platform ‘YouTube’ within the past month.

Statistics on the ‘Global usage penetration of YouTube from 2nd quarter 2013 to 1st quarter 2015’. These statistics provide information on the global reach of YouTube as of the first quarter of 2015, based on the share of the online population using the video streaming service. During the last measured quarter, 81 % of global internet users had visited the online video portal in the last month.

Statistics on ‘YouTube usage frequency of active users worldwide as of 3rd quarter 2016’. During the survey period, it was found that 33 % of active YouTube users worldwide accessed the video platform more than once per day. As of 2015, there are over one billion YouTube users, while the ten most subscribed to channels cumulate over 200 million subscribers.

Statistic on ‘Worldwide net advertising revenues of YouTube from 2013 to 2016 (in billion U.S. dollars)’. In 2015, the online video portal's net advertising revenues amounted to an estimated 4.28 billion US dollars, up from 1.86 billion US dollars in 2013.

• Alexa Topsite rankings (a subsidiary of Amazon.com) https://www.alexa.com/topsites/countries contains information on the number of visits a web site receives and, on that basis, estimates the popularity of the same. The evidence filed shows that by 31/08/2017 Youtube.com [User-submitted videos with rating, comments, and contests] holds the second position in the Global Rank of webs. The same second position is held by YouTube in the EU Member States/Countries: Spain, Germany, France, Italy, Austria, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Sweden, United Kingdom and the fifth position in Malta.

• EMarketer is a market research company that provides insights and trends related to digital marketing, media and commerce.

Press release entitled ‘Germany’s Social users Check In Several times Daily’ stating that according ‘Social Trends Social Media report’ from Tomorrow Focus Media TFM, in February 2015 ‘YouTube ranked second in Germany, with 60.9% penetration’. Furthermore, TFM also asked social media users to rate the likelihood that individual social networks would survive and thrive in the future. YouTube was the clear winner here, with 81.3% of social media users in Germany thinking it would do well.

Data feed for July 25, 2017 according to which YouTube has 1.5 billion monthly viewers, who watch an average of 60 minutes per day on mobile.

‘Digital video Platforms Are Drawing Ever-Increasing Numbers of Viewers’ (Article dated 04/08/2016) according to which ‘YouTube still dominates in nearly every market worldwide except China, where it is blocked by the government’.

• ‘Advertisers to spend~$5.60 Billion on YouTube in 2013 Worldwide’. (Article dated 11/12/2013) according to which YouTube takes home $1.96 billion in net global digital ad revenues and a 20.5% share of US video ad market.

• Brandwatch is a social media monitoring company headquartered in Brighton, providing companies with information and the means to track specific segments to analyse their brands' online presence.

‘36 Fascinating YouTube Statistics for 2016’, (article dated 08/06/2016) provides the information about YouTube growth and development. In particular it is underlined that 1) in 2015, 18-49 year-olds spent 4% less time watching TV while time on YouTube went up 74% and that on mobile alone, YouTube reaches more 18-49 year-olds than any broadcast or CABLE TV network. 2) YouTube is the world’s second largest search engine and third most visited site after Google and Facebook. 3) On average, there are 1,000,000,000 mobile video views per day. 4) As of October 2014, YouTube has paid out $1 billion to rights holders since 2007. 5) Among millennials, ‘YouTube’ accounts for two-thirds of the premium online video watched across devices. 6) When brands use TrueView, they see views of previously existing content increase by up to 500% after posting new videos. 7) You can navigate YouTube in a total of 76 different languages (covering 95% of the Internet population).

• ‘SyncForce Ranking the Brands’ [ https://www.rankingthebrands.com/ ] is a guide to brand rankings it includes the next relevant information on brand rakings (global rankings and rankings referring to EU territories) in which YouTube is positioned as follows:

BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands, 2016 and 2017, The brands mentioned are the world's most trusted brands. YouTube/ trademark held in 2017 the 65th position.

Dutch Most Used Social Media Platforms | 2016 and 2017 , YouTube/ held the 3nd position.

Global Brand Simplicity Index | 2011 to 2015 and 2017, YouTube/ held: the 29th position in 2011, -the 26th position in 2012, -the 13th position in 2013, -the 19th position in 2014, -the 8th position in 2015, -the 8th position in 2017.

The Top 50 Relevant Brands | 2016, by Prophet. YouTube/ held the 43th position in this trademark ranking.

Top 20 CoolBrands | 2008 to 2016 (UK) by The Center For Brand Analysis. YouTube/ held the: -5th position in 2008 -6th position in 2009 -15th position in 2010, -10th position in 2011, -2nd position in 2012, -6th position in 2013, -7th position in 2014, -9th position in 2015, -10th position in 2016.

Top 50 Prophet Brand Relevance Germany | 2016, by Prophet. The top 50 YouTube/ held the 33th position in this trademark ranking.

Top 50 Prophet Brand Relevance Index UK | 2016, by Prophet. YouTube/ held the 13th position in this trademark ranking.

Dutch Most Used Social Media Platforms | 2014 and 2015 - YouTube/ held the 2nd position in 2014 with a usage of 7.1 million, -the 2nd position in 2015 with a usage of 6.8 million, - the 3rd position in 2016 with a usage of 7.2 million, - the 3rd position in 2017 with a usage of 7.5 million.

EURIB Top 100 of Indispensable Brands | 2015, by EURIB -YouTube held the 51st position in 2009 with a percentage of indispensability of 43%, the 29th position in 2010 with a percentage of indispensability of 49%., the 23rd position in 2011 with a percentage of indispensability of 47%, the 25th position in 2012 with a percentage of indispensability of 47%, the 13th position in 2013 with a percentage of indispensability of 55%, the 15th position in 2014 with a percentage of indispensability of 55%, the 16th position in 2015 with a percentage of indispensability of 51%.

The Global Top 10 Agile Brands 2015, by Landor. YouTube held the 7th position in this trademark ranking.

Dutch Strongest Media Brands 2015, by Interbrand. YouTube held the 8th position in 2014, the 8th position in 2015.

Top Global Meaningful Brands Index | 2015, by Havas Media YouTube held the 28th position in this trademark ranking.

Dutch Strongest Brands | 2014 to 2014, by BrandAsset Consult.

YouTube held the 13th position in 2012, with a score of 98,7, the 7th position in 2013, with a score of 99,4, the 18th position in 2014, with a score of 98,3.

Social Brands 100 Youth Ranking | 2014, by Headstream. Region: UK. YouTube/ held the 94th position.

Youth 100 | 2012 and 2014, by Voxburner. Ranking of UK's most loved and liked brands, YouTube/ held the 1st position in 2012. -2nd position in 2014.

The Most Valuable Social Media Brands | 2012 and 2013, by HWZ and BV4 YouTube held the 2nd position in 2012 with 18,099 m. $., the 2nd position in 2013 with 26,824 m.

Top 20 Desirable Brands in the UK | 2013, by Clear | M & C Saatchi Group. YouTube/ held the 17th position in this ranking.

UK's Top 10 Most Meaningful Brands | 2013, by Havas Media. YouTube held the 10th position in this ranking.

Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Leaders | 2012, by Brand Keys. YouTube/ held the 15th position in this ranking.

Official Top Consumer Superbrands | 2012, by The Center for Brand Region: UK, YouTube/ held the 42th position in this ranking.

Top 100 Trends to Brands | 2011 and 2012, by Trendslator. Region: NL. YouTube/ held the 18th position in 2011, the 17th position in 2012. Dutch Empathy Monitor | 2011, by Ruigrok NetPanel & Fronteer Strategy. YouTube/ held the 18th position.

The 100 most desired brands | 2011, by Clear. Region: UK. YouTube held the 53rd position.

UK's Kids Brand Index (100) | 2011, by Harris Interactive. YouTube/ held the 6th position with an index score of 91.5.

Marketingheroes of the last 10 years (NL) | 2009, by Tijdschrift voor. Category: Brand Popularity. Region: NL. YouTube held the 8th position.

Social Radar Top 50 Social Brands | 2009, by Infegy. YouTube/ held the 5th position.

Top 10 brands on Facebook | 2009, by The Big Money. YouTube/ held the 7^th position with 3,733,242 fans.

• YouGovBrandIndex rankings. ‘BrandIndex’ is the authoritative measure of brand perception, continuously measuring public perception of thousands of brands. ‘BrandIndex’ interviews thousands of consumers every day, yielding over 2.5 million interviews a year and operates at national and international levels.

Top Index Rankings 2017. Youtube 2^nd position, just after Google. Annual Rankings: UK Top Buzz. Youtube: 10^th position in 2013, 8th position in 2015, 9th position in 2016.

Annual Rankings: France YouTube: 8th position in 2013, 9th position in 2014, 4th position in 2016.

Annual Rankings: Germany - YouTube: 1st position in 2014, 8^th position in 2016.

Annual Rankings: Ireland - YouTube: 4th position in 2016.

Annual Rankings: Netherlands - YouTube: 2nd position 2013, 1^st position 2014, 4th position 2016. 2013 – Netherlands.

• Digital News Report 2015 (Doc. C) ‘Social Networks and their Role in News’ May 2015. Track of the most popular social networks in each country - and the most popular for news. Their data from 12 countries show that Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, WhatsApp, and Google+ are by far the most important networks for news in that order, but for younger users Instagram, Snapchat, and Tumblr also come into the picture.

• Articles From Online Uk Media (Doc. C), including articles from U.K. media such as BBC News Online, The Times, The Guardian, The Huffington Post United Kingdom, The Independent, techcrunch.com, mashable.com etc.

• 18/12/2012 (http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-20773043) ‘Gangnam Style singer Psy, the X Factor's Lucy Spraggan and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg have all made it onto YouTube's top 10 UK "trending videos" of 2012’

• 21/12/2012 (http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-20812870) ‘Gangnam Style hits one billion views on YouTube’. Gangnam Style has become the first video to clock up more than one billion views on YouTube….

• 21/03/2013 (http://www.bbc.com/news/business-21874329) ‘YouTube reaches one billion monthly users’… the top 100 brands listed by trade magazine Advertising Age were now running campaigns on YouTube. The BBC also has a presence on YouTube, with a number of different channels. Some are run by BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the corporation…

• 08/04/2014 (https://www.journalism.co.uk/news/8-tips-from-youtube-for-newsorganisations) ‘8 tips from YouTube for news organisations’ …Although YouTube is a video publishing platform it is still very much a social network, where users can create their own content and converse naturally through videos…YouTube gives channels the opportunity to engage with viewers much like other social media or in comment threads.

• 15/04/2014 ‘Arsenal launch official YouTube channel’ Arsenal Football Club is starting an official channel on YouTube, the world's largest video-sharing platform …

• 16/08/2014 ‘Zoella, Tanya Burr and the UK's YouTube superstars’ …Over-20s may not have heard of them, but to tween- and teenagers these prolificvideo bloggers are worthy of mobbing.

• 21/10/2014 ‘Fame, fortune...and digital! How digital platforms are fashioning the rich and famous’…YouTube as a platform has experienced exponential growth since its launch in 2005. It has recently become an active platform for fame-hungry bloggers, and has quickly evolved into a viable career path for many of them.

• 7/11/2014 (http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/life/532609/Tanya-Burr-blog-tips ‘Tanya Burr): The YouTube sensation shares her top tips on how to become an internet hit’ The lifestyle blogger, who shares make-up tutorials, beauty and style guidance with her millions of fans, reveals what it takes to be an online success … Her YouTube channel has over 2.5 million followers who flock to her page for beauty tips, style advice and to check-in on her daily life.

• 11/12/2014 ‘Watch 80s News Clips From Thames TV’; Thames Television – of possibly the most famous UK telly history - has a great YouTube archive.

• 02/01/2015 (https://www.easyspace.com/blog/2015/01/02/10-steps-becomingsuccessful)- youtube-vlogger/ ‘10 Steps To Becoming A Successful Youtube Vlogger’ Do you want to become an authority and attract high quality leads and sales for your business? With simple little YouTube videos you can create & grow an audience that will enable you to sell your products & services with less effort, build an email list and attract a loyal customer base.

• 18/02/2015 (http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/life/542301/Zoella-Zoe-Sugg-facts) ‘Who is Zoella?’ The YouTube star is probably the most famous person you've never heard of’ … with an estimated yearly income of £300,000 and a strong following of nearly seven million, Zoella isn't you average 24 year old…Zoella uploads her 10 to 20 minute videos to her YouTube channel. She started in 2009 and has racked up 6.5 million subscribers worldwide so far.

• 16/03/2015 (http://www.thedrum.com/news/2015/03/16/how-succeed-youtubetips) adidas-pepsi-and-unilever ‘How to Succeed on YouTube: Tips from Adidas, Pepsi and Unilever’. A series of four films giving tips on how brands can engage the YouTube generation.

• 23/04/2015 (http://www.news5cleveland.com/news/national/10-most-watched-nonmusic) ‘Videos-in-youtube-history’ ‘10 most-watched non-music videos in YouTube history. It's been 10 years since first video was uploaded’; Thursday marked 10 years since the first video was uploaded to YouTube. That video, an 18-second clip of one of the company’s co-founders at the San Diego Zoo, has been viewed almost 20 million times since April 23, 2005’.

• 22/07/2015 ‘Watch a million minutes of history, all on YouTube’. The Associated Press and British Movietone have teamed up to post over 550,000 videos of archival digitized film footage to YouTube. AP says it will be the largest upload of historical news content on the video-sharing platform to date, with film footage going back to 1895 up until present day.

• 22/07/2015 (https://www.nus.org.uk/en/lifestyle/the-best-ethical-documentarieson- youtube) ‘The Best Ethical Documentaries on YouTube’

• 30/09/2015 ‘Pupils choose YouTube over teachers for careers advice’; Fewer schoolchildren are turning to their teachers for careers advice, while YouTube, Google and social media sites are becoming increasingly popular with youngsters, new research has found.

• 16/10/2015 ‘The YouTube Rich List’: Forbes publishes the earnings of top online stars who have become multi-millionaires on a par with Hollywood's finest... but do you recognize them?’.; Forbes published list of YouTube personalities that earned most, Fleix Kjellberg, 25, brought home $12million from 39million subscribers. Other top earners include comedy groups, beauty vlogger and video chef.

• 19/10/2015 (http://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/article/10-richest-youtube-vloggersaccording- to-forbes) ‘MIND BLOWN: Forbes reveals the 10 richest bloggers’. Here in the UK, Zoella, Tanya Burr and Sprinkle of Glittr are household names (well, if you have under-18s under your roof) and we're not daft, we know that they make a fair bit of cash from what they do.

• 23/10/2015 (http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-34504053) ‘The UK YouTube stars with fans around the world’. The UK's most influential YouTube creators have been named in a top 10 list produced for the BBC.

• 03/02/2016 (https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/feb/03/why-youtubestars)- ‘Popular-zoella’ ‘Why are YouTube stars so popular?’; With millions of subscribers, top YouTubers such as Zoella have huge, passionate audiences. Here's a handy guide to help you understand their popularity.

• 13/03/2016 (http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/zoella-youtube-earnings) ‘YouTube star Zoella reportedly earns at least £ 50,000 a month according to newly released accounts’.

• 31/03/2016 (http://www.thedrum.com/news/2016/03/31/2005-nike-videofeaturing)- Nike video featuring Ronaldinho becomes first YouTube film to reach one million views’.

• 22/04/2015 (http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/04/22/youtube-most-creativeads)- ‘10 Years Of YouTube Has Led To Some Of The Most Creative Viral Adverts Ever Made’. YouTube has been making us smile, laugh, cry and dance for 10 years, which when you think about it is really rather impressive.

• 06/05/2016 (https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/may/06/how-youtubemakes-) ‘Inside the bootcamps where YouTube grows its next generation of stars’…Lennard is one of 16 UK-based channels chosen by the Google-owned online-video service for its latest NextUp programme – an annual contest that has been identifying emerging talent on YouTube since 2011. This year, up to 360 YouTubers will take part, initially in Los Angeles and London with Tokyo, Sao Paulo, Berlin, Paris, Toronto and Mumbai to follow. In London, the week-long Creator Camp is held in the YouTube Space studio in Google’s office…

• 12/05/2016 (http://www.btplc.com/news/#/pressreleases/bt-strikes-youtube-dealas-) ‘BT strikes YouTube deal as part of wider digital strategy’; UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League Finals to be streamed live on YouTube/New offer to bring BT Sport to millions of EE mobile customers in time for next football season. BT today unveiled ambitious plans to bring its BT Sport channels to millions of additional sports fans through a range of digital channels. These include social media, mobile and digital TV. The plans will see the company stream its Freeview BT Sport Showcase channel on YouTube for both the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League finals…

• 15/06/2016 ‘More than half online users get news from Facebook, YouTube and Twitter: study’ ;

• 24/06/2016 ‘YouTube Analytics: Using Data to Optimize Your Video Strategy’. ‘As the world’s largest video search engine, YouTube represents a rich vein of potential to businesses both in terms of building brand awareness and driving sales. Despite this, it’s not uncommon to find that developing an effective YouTube strategy can pose a challenge to even the largest of ecommerce companies’.

• 13/05/2016 (http://www.businessinsider.com) ‘YouTube secures deal to live stream UEFA Champions League finals’. YouTube has secured a deal with British TV network BT Sport to live stream the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League finals, according to WIRED…

• 05/07/2016 ‘Coca-Cola targets millennials with CokeTV YouTube channel’ Coca-Cola is working with popular YouTube bloggers to take its CokeTV channel to the UK, France and Spain as the FMCG giant ramps up its content marketing strategy as a new way to engage teens with authentic “eye-level” communication. the soft drinks brand first launched CokeTV in Germany back in 2014, where it attracted over 268,000 subscribers and 29m views making it one of the most successful brand channels in the country. The UK channel will be fronted by YouTube stars Manny and Dodie, with each episode focusing on entertainment 'passions' such as gaming, sports and music. The hosts will recruit other bloggers to take on challengers and the show will also get exclusive access to events.

• 16/08/2016 (https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/youtube-launches-creativehub-) ‘YouTube launches creative hub 'Space' to help stars turn into fortune’ YouTube opened the doors of its new creative hub in London, where online stars including Zoella, Alfie Deyes and Niomi Smart can get free access to cinema-quality studios and meet their legions of young fans.

• 21/07/2016 (https://yougov.co.uk/news/2016/07/21/youtube-highest-rated-brandamong- 18-24s) ‘YouTube is highest rated brand among 18-24s, as streaming services dominate’;

• 12/09/2016 (https://fact5.net/5-richest-youtube-millionaires) 5 RICHEST YOUTUBE MILLIONAIRES’; 5. KSI Olajide “JJ” Olatunji better known as KSI (a shortened version of his full YouTube name, KSIOlajidebt) is an English comedian, YouTube star and rapper with currently over 12 million subscribers on YouTube. According to Forbes, this YouTube sensation made approximately $4.5 million in 2015 alone! …

• 14/09/2016 (https://www.journalism.co.uk/news/google-launches-youtube-playerfor) ‘Google launches YouTube Player for Publishers as part of the Digital News Initiative in Europe’. The YouTube Player for Publishers, a video solution developed in partnership with a group of media organisations members of the Digital News Initiative (DNI), is now open to all European news outlets, Google announced today. The new player aims to provide audiences with a better viewing experience across devices, both on desktop and on their mobile appsç

• 25/11/2016 ‘34 Mind Blowing YouTube Facts, Figures and Statistics – 2016’. Youtube launched February 14th, 2005 by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. Now it is the 3rd most visited website in the world. Youtube Statistics – 2016 …The Annual cost of running and maintaining YouTube is $6,350,000,000; Google’s annual revenue generated from YouTube is $4,000,000,000; Youtube generate 6% of Google’s ad sales revenue; Since 2007 YouTube has paid $1,250,000,000 to rights holders; Google paid $1,65 billion for YouTube in November of 2006; Sequoia Capital invested only $11.5 million into YouTube in November 2005; Partners revenue is up 50% y/y for the last 3 years; The World highest paid youtube stars earned a combined total of $54.5 million in 2015; The highest paid Youtube partner is PewDiePie with annual income reaching $12 million for 2015; The number of channels earning six figures per year on YouTube is up 50% y/y; The number of advertisers running video ads on YouTube is up more than 40% y/y. And for Youtube top 100 advertisers, the average spend per advertiser is up over 60% y/y (…)

• 12/12/2016 ‘YouTube viewing on TV doubles in one year’ . The number of people watching YouTube on TV has more than doubled in the past year, according to Matt Brittin…

• 02/03/2017 ‘How YouTube Has Changed the Entertainment Industry’….YouTube was founded by three former PayPal employees in 2005, …..YouTube now has over a billion users, with people watching hundreds of millions of hours of videos on the site every dayYouTube culture has now become so powerful that the biggest YouTubers are being considered celebrities in their own right…..

• 09/06/2017 ‘YouTube Works for Brands 2017 winners announced’ The winners of the 2017 YouTube Works for Brands initiative have been announced by Google. Google has announced the winners of its 2017 YouTube Works for Brands prize, which is designed to recognise organisations that use the video platform innovatively in their marketing campaigns to generate good results.

• 11/07/2017 (http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-40566816) ‘Gangnam Style is no longer the most-played video on YouTube’. The South Korean megahit had been the site's most-played clip for the last five years….The video reached 1 billion views in six months, and hit 2 billion last September. However, its reign as YouTube's most-watched clip may be short-lived. Luis Fonsi's summer smash Despacito has racked up 2.5 billion views in just six months, and it shows no signs of slowing down.

• 31/07/2012, “HootSuite tells me that the App Directory has been “extremely successful” to date, with around 15% of new users adding at least one app in the first week of signing up for HootSuite. YouTube and Instagram are the most popular apps to date, it says.”

• 13/09/2016. ‘YouTube gets its own social network with the launch of YouTube Community’. Confirming earlier reports that YouTube was planning to introduce more social networking features to its service, the company announced this morning the launch of YouTube Community, which allows video creators to better engage viewers using text, GIFs, images and more.

• Articles From Spanish Online Media (Doc. C) containing articles from major Spanish media with online editions including the newspapers ABC, El País, La Razón, El Mundo, El Confidencial and the TV and radio stations Antenna3, Telecinco, RTVE and Cadena Ser.

• Expansion is a Spanish economic newspaper founded on May 27, 1986.

‘Which are the most successful social networks in Spain?’; …. 1. Facebook; … 2. YouTube: YouTube is the only one that gets its heels on Facebook, although with 23% of the 'cake' it is still far from ending its reign. However, its growth surpasses that of the first on the list and stands at 56%. This percentage not only gives it the 'silver medal' in this competition, but also makes the Google network number one in the audiovisual area.

“This is how big brands use YouTube’ ‘Youtubers' (29/10/2016), the last hook for marks. The power of YouTube for beauty brands. For six years, Youtube has True View, an advertising platform that allows the viewer to skip the ad after a while. Advertising on Youtube has been conceived for many brands as a complement to their television spots. YouTube is positioned as the second medium in Spain, after television. "Youtube is the second largest search engine after Google…’

• ABC is a Spanish national daily newspaper founded in Madrid on January 1, 1903.

'Social networks conquer Spanish netizens' (11/01/2013) 80% of Internet users use them, 5% more than in 2011. .. In second place is YouTube (64% of users) and Twitter (46%).

‘Google launches Capture for iOS ' (11/01/2013). It is an application that lets you upload, apply filters and edit videos from Apple devices. As Instagram, YouTube has decided that uploading videos is easier with YouTube Capture. This new Youtube application is currently available for iOS devices and can be downloaded for free in the App Store.

‘YouTube paves the way for its conversion to social network’ (8/08/2016) The popular video platform plans to introduce more services to allow users to share images or surveys to improve the conversation between content creators and subscribers’…

“The 10most watched YouTube videos in Spain in 2016” (12/12/2016).

• El País is the highest-circulation daily newspaper in Spain and one of three Madrid dailies considered to be national newspapers of record for Spain (along with El Mundo and ABC).

4/04/2012 “Hollywood is 'rented' on YouTube” The video channel will offer in streaming 'payment' 500 films of Paramount. It already has agreements with five of the six main US producers for now, 20th Century Fox resists him. For the rest, YouTube has taken almost all of Hollywood. Google's video channel today reached an agreement with Paramount Pictures to offer 500 of its paid streaming movies over the next few weeks.

16/07/2012 “The news seizes YouTube” …The main website to share videos of the world has been transformed in recent months into a powerful news platform, in which users are the ones who send when choosing what news to see and what time to see them.

21/03/2013 “YouTube reaches 1 billion” Only the video site and Facebook exceed that number of unique visits every month YouTube , revealed Thursday that the number of unique users who visit the website of video exchange every month has reached 1 billion, about six months after the social network Facebook also managed to reach this record. If YouTube were a country, it would be the fourth largest in the world after China, India and Facebook.

10/02/2015 “YouTube Generation” The virtual platform has become the main means of entertainment for those born after the nineties. Today, according to the company itself, the video channel receives about 1 billion visitors a month, which in the same period, spend 6 billion hours watching videos (…).

6/11/2015 “YouTube joins five newspapers to improve video broadcast” EL PAÍS and other European media are involved in the project to use Google technology…. The idea is to have a more powerful platform from which to offer our readers the videos, which have become one of the strategic areas of our project, "says Antonio Caño, director of EL PAÍS.

4/08/2017 'Karate Kid' will re-wax and polish wax on YouTube”

9/08/2017 “Children want to be football players and teachers, but also 'youtubers'. As in previous surveys, children want to be mostly football players (18.2% of the total)...but the main novelty of this year is the irruption of youtubers (5.1%) as the fourth preference of the future for the youngest (…).

• La Razón is a daily newspaper based in Madrid, Spain.

1/10/2014 “Social networks and companies” Thus, according to the study carried out by the Spanish Association of Digital Economy (Adigital) and the Association of Digital Agencies (AD) on the use of social networks in Spanish companies, more than half assure that the return obtained is equal to or greater than investment, a fact that, although important, which shows that there is still a long way to go in this area. ..In fourth and fifth place are YouTube, with 57.81%, and Google +, with 51.16%. But even much less massive platforms such as Instagram or Pinterest already exceed 20% in degree of adoption in Spanish companies.

15/02/2016 "Who is not on YouTube is lost where the industry moves" Rodrigo Septién / «Youtuber». His videos already have millions of visits, even have been cast among the most popular in Spain alongside those of El Rubius or Wismichu.

16/06/2016 “The news on Facebook and YouTube” For young people are their main source of news, according to a study, comparing to TV. Social networks such as Facebook and YouTube have outpaced television as a source of primary access to information among young people (…).

• El Mundo is the second largest printed daily newspaper in Spain and the largest digital newspaper (elmundo.es).

25/10/2015 “Youtube's Most Viewed Music Videos in the Last 10 Years”

14/09/2016 “Within the Digital News Initiative plan with European publishers” - EL MUNDO, a pioneer in Google's pilot project to incorporate YouTube into online information. EL MUNDO, a pioneer in multimedia innovation, is one of two Spanish media involved in Google's pilot program to introduce YouTube infrastructure into the content of press publishers. This digital newspaper is already working on the advance work group to incorporate the YouTube player into its news, a project called Player for Publishers (PfP) that is part of the Digital News Initiative (DNI) collaboration plan undertaken by the Mountain company View with the European media.

07/10/2016 “YouTube and Google, ten years of buying that changed the Internet” The purchase of YouTube changed the whole Internet landscape. Ten years later, it is a fundamental platform used daily by millions…

• La Vanguardia is a Spanish daily newspaper, printed in Spanish and since 3 May 2011 in Catalan.

29/03/2012 “The ten most followed brands in social networks” The social media audience measurement and analysis company Track Social produces a revealing list of metrics on the tracking of top brands on sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Instagram. Although the overall ranking is led by Facebook, the largest number of followers corresponds to YouTube. 76 million people follow the most popular video platform in the main social media, through which they promote news, trends, and viralize their audiovisual content.

• El Confidencial is a Spanish daily general information newspaper online, specialized in economic and financial news but which also gives great importance to political news”

24/11/2015 ‘The secret of musical success: being a youtuber - From the network to the stage’ - Farewell to intermediaries and hello to fans. The platform has become the place where record labels are looking for new talent and where you have to stand to excel in music. Earlier, if a music group or a singer wanted to record a record and end up filling concerts, they had no choice but to go door to door with his model under his arm. Now, the door to be touched is Youtube. Make a cover, add a good legion of fans - with a good and personal social media strategy - and you will have many options to dedicate to music. There are no magic formulas for success, but Youtube is 'the-place-to-be' of music today. Just a few figures: only this year the video viewing time on Youtube has grown by 60%, half of the ten most viewed videos in the first decade of Youtube's life were video clips …and Spanish youtubers export 80% of their content to Latin America and the United States.

1/03/2016 Why teens love YouTube: "TV and radio do not speak their language" A book aims to unravel some of the keys necessary to understand the functioning of a medium of communication loved and hated by large audiences. A boiling market. The market that does allow charging is YouTube.

26/07/2016 “XII Survey What do you want to be when you are older” by Adecco…Adecco says that in the case of the boys, a number of new professions have been cast, such as Youtubers, video game testers, community managers, gamers or bloggers, who previously had almost no place in this ranking.

2/09/2017 “Young, fun and frikis: Spanish scientists who conquer YouTube” In the United States, science YouTube channels reach more than 12 million subscribers. In Spain, following their trail, they begin to carve a niche. For some time now absurd humor, fashion and technology on YouTube have begun to leave room for scientific content, although in Spain the trend is slowly advancing.

• Antena 3 is a Spanish terrestrial television channel owned by Atresmedia Televisión which also owns Onda Cero, one of Spain's most listened radio stations.

9/12/2015 “What are the most watched music videos of 2015 on the internet?” YouTube, the premier video portal on the internet, has just published the list of the ten most viewed music videos of the year in a global way.

6/06/2016 “David, the professor who triumphs in Youtube with his classes to pass university entrance examination” He has been uploading videos to his channel for five years, which includes explanations for science subjects from ESO to the first courses of the university career.

26/06/2017 “Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter and YouTube create a group to combat terrorism” The business coalition formed by the four companies will be called Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism and its objective will be to make its spaces "hostile to terrorists and violent extremists".

31/05/2017 “The youtubers, increasingly requested by the big brands to get their messages”. Large companies use these people with millions of followers to reach the 'millennials', because with conventional advertising they are not able to achieve it. Youtubers , people who spend a lot of time, and even earn a living, hanging videos on YouTube , are increasingly requested by large companies to place their advertising messages among the youngest.

• Telecinco is one of the major Spanish commercial television channels, operated by Mediaset España Comunicación.

26/11/2012 “810 million users convert 'Gangnam Style' into the YouTube record” The music video Gangnam Style of South Korean rapper Psy became the most watched on YouTube on Saturday, with more than 800 million views, surpassing the video of Canadian Justin Bieber of his song Baby(…).

13/08/2013 “Banco Santander and Ferrari look for talent in an Instagram and YouTube contest” (…)

13/12/2013 ‘Youtube earns $ 5.600 billion in 2013 in advertising’; The research firm emarketer has published a number of YouTube, which reflect that brands and companies spent $ 5.6 billion (about 4.073 million euros) in advertising on Youtube 2013, which is an increase of 51.5 per on the previous year (…)

• RTVE is The Spanish Radio and Television Corporation. It is the largest audiovisual group in Spain broadcasting in the Spanish language.

23/04/2012 “The YouTube phenomenon: seven years and 60 hours of video uploaded every minute” Only seven years have passed, but it seems that it has been decades for the amount of video hours uploaded and shared on YouTube…only in 2011 YouTube obtained more than a billion views, which means that each inhabitant of the planet saw around 140 videos in a single year.

26/07/2012 “YouTube allows you to upload videos with CC license” In one year the portal has collected four million files with CC license Any user can download and reuse them using the YouTube editor (…).

20/12/2012 “The new channel of the Royal House on YouTube is already underway” With images of the activities of kings and princes. A tour through the Christmas messages of the King. This year will be able to continue in 'streaming' on the new channel (…).

18/05/2015 “Ten years of YouTube in Spanish” Music, parodies, television series and even advertisements are the stars of these 10 years of Youtube in Spanish. Although above all, the contents of children stand out. They are the most viewed videos on a platform that was created just a decade ago.

20/04/2016 “Instagram the fastest growing social network in Spain” More than 15 million Spaniards use social networks according to the study of a consultant. There is an increase of social networks per user, using about 4.7 networks per user . Facebook continues to be the social network par excellence (94% users), followed by WhatsApp (88%), YouTube (66%) and Twitter (52%). As for rating, WhatsApp and YouTube are the top rated social networks, with 8.5 and 8.1 out of 10 respectively, followed by Spotify, Instagram, Telegram and Facebook… 94% connect to social networks through the computer, being the most visited networks Facebook and Youtube. 85% of Internet users follow 'influencers' in social networks and 84% say follow a brand. The preferred social networks to keep up with the influencers' trends are Facebook (63%), Twitter (34%), Youtube (20%) and Instagram (17%).

17/11/2016 “Spain is one of the five countries of the world with greater penetration of the internet” The favorites are Whatsapp, Facebook, Youtube and Twitter (…).

• La Cadena SER is Spain's premier radio network in terms of both seniority (it was created in 1926) and audience share (it had a regular listenership in 2013 of 4,785,000). The acronym SER stands for Sociedad Española de Radiodifusión (Spanish Broadcasting Company)”.

21/09/2012 “Famous thanks to YouTube” The social network of videos has made known to many artists and has resurfaced many others (…) We review some of the most significant cases.

2/08/2015 “Do you want to learn something? Ask YouTube” ChachiGuitar - A fun name for a fun way to learn guitar. Thanks to these guys we can, finally play, that song that we liked so much (…)

4/09/2016 “The youtuber fever “ Gustavo Entrala talks about the phenomenon of YouTube and we are accompanied by two Youtubers who tell us their experience.

• Xataka Móvil is a publication dedicated to the world of mobile telephones, smartphones, telephone operators, their prices and the best apps.

6/11/2011 ‘The evolution of YouTube and the decline of television, computer graphics” Today it seems that YouTube has always been with us, the Internet, entertaining us and providing us with video content, but it is not. The famous streaming portal was born back in 2005, although the main event for them took place in 2006 when Google acquired the company. Since then both content and visits and even popularity have been increasing.

17/11/2012 ‘BBC unveils Earth Unplugged, a YouTube channel on nature with HD Videos’… BBC has launched Earth Unplugged, a new YouTube channel in which they hope to hang a multitude of documentaries so that we see them streaming quietly from home.

• Seetio is a personal blog created in order to locate and give a different approach to network trends.

11/08/2012 “Crisis Response One Box” | Youtube shows relevant videos in case of emergency … For this they have launched Crisis Response One Box, an officially validated social video service that will appear when there is an event that requires it such as: an earthquake, tsunami, etc. (…).

18/03/2014 A good idea | “A version of Youtube with content for children.”

7/01/2015 “Robots of the future will learn how to cook watching Youtube videos” Researchers from the University of Maryland and the Australian research center NICTA have presented a spectacular project related to deep learning that is the least disturbing… they selected 88 cookery videos on Youtube recorder by third parties … and from the analysis of the video clips one of his robots was able to learn different movements to cook for himself.

• Dosbit is the opponent’s new web portal Bitablog based on themes 2.0 and programming

7/03/2012 “Youtube will broadcast all the tests of the Olympic Games 2012” Google has just announced that it will broadcast via Youtube the London 2012 Olympic Games.

28/10/2014 ‘Youtube joins music streaming services’ Youtube has managed to surprise the press with the announcement that will include within its service a specific section for streming music.

9/01/2015 ‘360 videos are coming on YouTube’ Thanks to the technology of Oculus Rift and Gear VR that do not allow to navigate in threedimensional environments, the largest portal of videos has decided to implement support for this type of videos (…).

5/10/2016 “Youtube imposes itself on television, according to a poll among youtubers” The new habits of access to audiovisual content among young people are gradually shifting to television in favor of Youtube. The latter is becoming its main means of audiovisual communication (…).

• Genbeta, https://www.genbeta.com/ A publication of WeblogsSL [specialized digital media group in Spanish that reaches more than 40 million readers worldwide and has created more than 30 publications] dedicated to following the current world of software, internet and web services.

13/12/2013. ‘YouTube's net advertising revenue near $ 2 billion, according to eMarketer’; The $ 1.600 billion Google paid for YouTube in 2006 is on track to become one of Silicon Valley's biggest bargains (…).

• Reason Why https://www.reasonwhy.es/ is a website dealing with news and Research Marketing, Advertising, Business and Technology.

20/07/2015 “This is how Top Brands relate to YouTube” The Top 100 Brands have doubled their content on YouTube in the last year (…) And the results have not been expected: users have seen their videos 40 billion times in total. In fact, four of the ten videos most viewed on the platform in 2014 were made by brands (…).

22/07/2015 “Advertising investment by major brands on YouTube to grow 60% this year” The top 100 brands in the world will invest 60% more this year in advertising on YouTube than in 2014, according to an Interbrand study published on FT.com .

• Brandwatch https://www.brandwatch.com/es is a social media monitoring company headquartered in Brighton, England.

30/06/2016 “36 fascinating YouTube statistics for 2016”. In an average month, 8 out of 10 people between the ages of 18 and 49 watch YouTube. In 2015, people aged 18-49 spent 4% less time watching TV, while the time spent on YouTube increased by 74%. Just by taking into account the mobiles, YouTube reaches a larger audience (people between 18 and 49 years), than any television or cable channel (…).

• TICbeat – is an independent digital publication specialized in technology and innovation, in its industry and its main trend.s

1/12/2013 “Ranking of the most popular brands” We introduce the most popular product brands, listed by number of fans on their corporate Facebook pages. The data, updated to October 2013, give YouTube the first place in followers, always taking into account that the first is - and will, presumably - for Facebook itself, which has more fans than any other company. Bypassing Facebook's obvious record, the October 2013 ranking would give YouTube a pre-eminent position (76 million fans), outperforming Coca-Cola (73 million), followed closely, and third place for Red Bull already at a greater distance (40 million followers).

• Ciudadano https://www.ciudadano2cero.com/ is a web 2.0 outreach and training blog born in 2011.

1/12/2013 ‘To understand the reach of YouTube, here are some key figures’: YouTube is the third most visited website in the world (according to Alexa) , the next best placed internet video site ( Netflix ) is in 100th place . The YouTube search engine is the second most popular search engine in the world , after Google, ahead of Yahoo or Bing . YouTube receives more than 800 million unique visits per month. In 2012 it reached 4.000 million views of videos per day . This would represent 4 reproductions per day for each inhabitant of the developed countries.

• BlogginZenith http://blogginzenith.zenithmedia.es/ is a corporate blog owned by Zenith Media S.L. Zenith Spain's official blog.

9/09/2014 “Youtube vs. Vimeo, what do brands prefer?” As for online video platforms , there are two indisputable leaders: Youtube and Vimeo (with permission from DailyMotion in Europe). You could say that YouTube is the giant , with more than 1 billion unique user visits per month (…9).

• Qué! http://www.que.es/ Latest news, news from Spain and the world

5/03/2014 “The YouTube phenomenon: the hobby that became a career” The crisis has caused what for many was a hobby, become an entire profession. In recent years in Spain there has been a significant growth in which many people make a living or extra money uploading videos to Youtube … Youtube is, without a doubt, the most important video website in the world. Through it, pass directly or indirectly, more than 1 billion people monthly. Well, there are privileged people who know how to make this traffic a real business.

• Lowpost https://lowpost.com/ is the leading content creation platform in Spanish. “Trends in YouTube usage” No social video network can compare with Youtube. Since its acquisition by Google in 2006, the growth of this site has reached very high levels (…)

• Muy Interesante https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ is a monthly popular science magazine.

21/12/2012 ‘YouTube teacher revolution’ (…)’ since last September, anyone can study without paying a euro in Berkeley, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) or the aforementioned elite university (i.e. Havard), institutions that promote the project edX. Or at Stanford and Princeton, which, along with fourteen other US centers, have created Coursera. Both are on-line and zerocost education plans that could forever transform specialized training (…).

• Roca Salvatella is a consultancy specialized in the digital transformation of business.

14/02/2015 ‘Youtube, the five reasons that explain 10 years of success’. Google's video platform already has more than 1,000 million users and is the third most visited website on the planet (…).

• ThinkwithGoogle is a website dealing with data and marketing searches.

November 2016 ‘YouTube: Your Social Success’. (…) That the Spanish audience moves to YouTube is a fact, as corroborated by the audience data compared to other media 65% of citizens use YouTube habitually, at least once a week …YouTube, therefore, is no longer just a platform for young people. In addition, YouTube is interclassist: 30% of its users are middle-upper and upper classes; 42% of middle classes and 28% of lower and lower middle classes (…)

• Computer Hoy is the bestselling computer magazine in Spain.

13/03/2016 “What is YouTube Network and how does it work” After months of rumors, dimes and diretes, last October was officially presented what would be the new YouTube subscription format: YouTube Red . This subscription system will allow users of the largest video platform on the planet to access all of their content without seeing any of the annoying ads that are displayed before or during the viewing of each video.

• Madison is a Spanish multinational that has positioned itself as a reference group on a national and international level in global marketing services.

2016 “Youtube as king platform of content marketing” Within content marketing, the video format is being erected as the most influential….Youtube as an advertising tool is not limited to explicit content that promotes brands in display or video format, but the real potential resides in its possibilities regarding content marketing.

• 3DJuegos is an online magazine specializing in videogames and audience leader in Spain.

1/06/2012 ‘The YouTube application for PS Vita will be released in June” It will be completely free and will speed up the search of videos through the Internet.

• Spinof is a publication about cinema and television of WeblogsSL, with all the news of series, films, programs and future projects.

15/12/2014 “From YouTube phenomenon to Nickelodeon program” YouTube is not only a social network: it is a school of talent, a collective producer, a window to the world and a curriculum vitae adapted to the new communicational reality (to be told to Leonor Lavado) (…)

• El Imparcial is a Spanish digital newspaper founded in 2008.

18/12/2012 “Most watched on YouTube in 2012” YouTube has taken stock of 2012 and has published a selection of the most viewed videos in the service (…).

• 20 Minutos is a Spanish free newspaper, with local editions in several Spanish cities, published by Multiprensa & Mas S.L.

17/07/2012 ‘The 10 singers and famous with more visits on Youtube’ 1. Rihanna 2. Lady Gaga. 3.Shakira. 4. Britney Spears. 5. Beyoncé. 6. Eminem. 7. Justin Bieber. 8. Pitbull. 9. Chris Brown. 10. Ray Williams Johnson.

• Ültima Hora is the bestselling newspaper in the Balearic Islands. Published by Hora Nova S.A.

20/12/2012 “La Casa del Rey launches YouTube channel”

• Ciao.es - is a strong and multicultural online community, with opinions, prices of products and services, all designed for the benefit of consumers. According to consumers’ opinions of this on line community (45 pages) ‘YouTube’ is rated as “excellent” or “great”.

Part of the evidence of reputation was in English and another part Spanish. However, the main parts of the evidence in Spanish are translated into English.

Assessment of the evidence

Having evaluated all the documents listed above, the Opposition Division concludes that the earlier Mark has a reputation in the European Union for some of the services on which the opposition is based and for which the opponent claimed reputation. Even though some of the evidence points to the reputation of the trade mark ‘YouTube’ without specifying whether this mark is a word or a figurative mark, there is sufficient evidence, such as the press articles, ranking reports and statics that the figurative mark , is the version that is mostly used for advertising and offering the services. This coloured version is considered not to alter the distinctive character of the earlier mark in the form in which it is registered as the arrangement and stylisation of the letters as well as the contrast of colour is not altered.

As for the timeline, most of the evidence relates to the period of time between 2012 and 2016, although the use of the trade mark ‘YouTube’ is deemed to go back to at least in 2005.

The notable amount of evidence submitted by the opponent, that refers to many Member States of the European Union, such as Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, France, Poland and Denmark and to the worldwide market, leaves no doubt that the earlier mark has been subject to long-standing and intensive use and is generally known in the relevant market as the name of the largest social video-sharing platform in existence featuring a wide variety of user-generated and corporate media content, including music videos, TV clips and other video clips (with over one billion YouTube users that is about 81% of the users, more than 400 hours of video content uploaded every minute as of 2015 and more than 1 billion hours of content consumed on the platform every single day as of March 2017), where it enjoys a consolidated position among the leading brands, as has been attested by diverse independent sources.

Indeed, the brand rakings and statistics, the articles from online UK and Spanish media (which place ‘YouTube’ in the second position as the most valuable social Media Brands in 2012 and 2013 as shown in ‘SyncForce Ranking the Brands’, and in the second position in the Global Rank of webs by 31/08/2017 as shown in ‘Alexa Topsite rankings’ as well as in the top positions within EU Member States and worldwide in the years 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016), the impressive and constantly increasing number of users, the various references in the press to its success, all unequivocally show that the earlier mark enjoys a very high degree of recognition among the relevant public in the European Union for broadcasting services, namely, uploading, posting, showing, displaying, tagging, blogging, sharing or otherwise providing electronic media or information over the Internet or other communications network; broadcasting services; webcasting services; providing a video sharing portal; electronic communication services; transmission of messages, data and content via the Internet and other computer and communications networks; transmission of electronic media, multimedia content, videos, movies, pictures, images, text, photos, games, user-generated content, audio content, and information via the Internet and other computer and communications networks; providing digital program distribution of audio and video broadcasts over a global computer network; providing a video sharing portal for entertainment and education purposes in Class 38, entertainment services, namely, providing multimedia content or information over the Internet and (or) other communications network in Class 41 and providing access to non-downloadable software to enable uploading, downloading, capturing, posting, showing, editing, playing, streaming, viewing, previewing, displaying, tagging, blogging, sharing, manipulating, distributing, publishing, reproducing, or otherwise providing electronic media, multimedia content, videos, movies, pictures, images, text, photos, games, user-generated content, audio content, and information via the Internet and other computer and communications networks; providing access to non-downloadable software to enable sharing of multimedia content in Class 42.

Furthermore, the existence of the reputation of the earlier mark has also been confirmed by previous decisions of the Spanish national authorities.

However, the evidence does not succeed in establishing that earlier mark has a reputation for all the registered services in Classes 35, 38, 41 and 42 on which the opposition is based and for which reputation has been claimed. The evidence mainly relates to a social video-sharing platform featuring a variety of services in Classes 38, 41 and 42 whereas there is little or no reference to the remaining services in these classes and to the services in Class 35.

2. The signs

Earlier trade mark	Contested sign

The relevant territory is the European Union.

The global appreciation of the visual, aural or conceptual similarity of the marks in question must be based on the overall impression given by the marks, bearing in mind, in particular, their distinctive and dominant components (11/11/1997, C‑251/95, Sabèl, EU:C:1997:528, § 23).

The earlier mark is a figurative mark consisting of the slightly stylized words ‘YouTube’ in different colours (black and white, respectively). The word ‘Tube’ is within a grey rectangle with rounded edges. The contested sign is a figurative mark consisting of the words/numbers ‘RADIO TUBERS Los 40’. A stylised depiction of a radio in orange and white is placed on the left of the verbal elements of the sign. The words ‘RADIO TUBERS’ are written in bold black standard letters whereas the element ‘Los 40’ are written in stylised coloured characters (different shades of orange and blue) at the bottom right of the sign. Given its position, small size and light colours, the element ‘Los 40’ plays a secondary role compared to the other figurative and verbal elements of the contested sign.

The unitary character of the European Union trade mark means that an earlier European Union trade mark can be relied on in opposition proceedings against any application for registration of a European Union trade mark that would adversely affect the protection of the first mark, even if only in relation to the perception of consumers in part of the European Union (18/09/2008, C-514/06 P, Armafoam, EU:C:2008:511, § 57). Therefore, a risk of injury for only part of the relevant public of the European Union is sufficient to reject the contested application.

The word element of the earlier mark, ‘Tube’, is meaningful in English as it can refer to several meanings, such as ‘a long hollow object that is usually round, like a pipe’ or ‘a cathode ray tube, especially in a television set’. In the perception of this part of the public, one of the meanings of the word ‘Tube’ (i.e. ‘a cathode ray tube, especially in a television set’) may diminish the distinctiveness of this word for some of the services at issue. Consequently, the Opposition Division finds it appropriate to focus the comparison of the signs on the non-English-speaking part of the public for which the word element ‘Tube’ of the earlier mark is distinctive to an average degree as explained below.

The English word ‘You’ of the earlier mark is the second person singular or plural pronoun. Being a basic English word, its meaning will be understood also by the non-English-speaking part of the public. This verbal element is considered distinctive since it is neither descriptive nor allusive with reference to the relevant services. The word element ‘Tube’ is meaningless for a part of the public under analysis, such as for the Spanish-speaking public, and for another part of the public, such as the French-speaking public, this word refers to an ‘object that is usually round, like a pipe’. Irrespective of whether it is or not understood, the word ‘Tube’ is considered a distinctive element since it is neither descriptive nor allusive of the relevant services to an extent that would materially affect its degree of distinctiveness. The rectangle of the earlier mark will be given less trade mark significance (if at all) than the verbal elements ‘YouTube’, since it is a commonplace and banal shape.

The element ‘Tubers’ of the contested sign is meaningless for the public under analysis and, therefore, distinctive. The word ‘RADIO’ of the contested sign will be understood by the public under analysis as ‘a broadcasting station or channel’ or ‘an apparatus for receiving radio programmes’. This is because this word exists or has very close equivalents in the relevant languages. The word RADIO is non-distinctive for some of the relevant services, such as emission dissemination, transmission and broadcasting of radio and television programmes; emission, dissemination, transmission and broadcasting of interactive radio programmes; emission, dissemination, transmission and broadcasting of radio programmes via satellite in Class 38, or radio advertising in Class 35 or radio entertainment, entertainment in Class 41, as it describes their nature or the means for their provision. This word is distinctive in relation to the remaining relevant services such as business management; business administration as it has no direct meaning in relation to these services. The element ‘Los’ of the contested sign has a meaning for a part of the public under analysis, such as the Spanish-speaking part, as it is the plural, masculine article while it is meaningless for the rest of the public under analysis. The element ‘40’ is a cardinal number and its meaning is understood by the public under analysis as a whole. Moreover, it is considered distinctive as it is not descriptive in respect of the relevant services. The expression ‘Los 40’ as a whole has no clear meaning in relation to the services, even for that part of the public that understands ‘Los’ and, therefore, it is considered distinctive being not descriptive neither allusive in relation to the relevant services. The figurative element (i.e. the depiction of a radio) merely reinforces the concept conveyed by the word element ‘RADIO’ and therefore it is non-distinctive in relation to a part of the services for the same reasons mentioned above.

It should be borne in mind that, when signs consist of both verbal and figurative components, in principle, the verbal component of the sign usually has a stronger impact on the consumer than the figurative component. This is because the public does not tend to analyse signs and will more easily refer to the signs in question by their verbal element than by describing their figurative elements (14/07/2005, T‑312/03, Selenium-Ace, EU:T:2005:289, § 37).

Visually, the signs coincide in their letters T-U-B-E-(*-*) which form the entire distinctive word element of the earlier mark ‘TUBE’ and represent the first four letters of the distinctive word element of the contested sign ‘TUBERS’, whereas they differ in the last letters ‘RS’ of the word element of the contested sign ‘TUBERS’. The signs also differ in the verbal elements ‘You’ at the beginning of the earlier mark and ‘RADIO’ and ‘Los 40’ of the contested sign as well as in the figurative elements (the rectangle and the depiction of a radio of the earlier mark and the contested signs, respectively) and in the colours and stylisation of the signs under comparison. The abovementioned figurative elements and the stylisation of the signs have, in general, less impact on the consumer than the verbal elements for the reasons explained above. Moreover the figurative element representing a radio is non-distinctive in relation to a part of the relevant services and therefore it plays a minor role in the visual comparison. In the same way, the verbal elements ‘RADIO’ and ‘Los 40’ of the contested sign are less likely to hold the consumers’ attention because of the lack of distinctiveness (i.e. the word ‘RADIO’ in relation to a part of the services), or of the small size and secondary position (i.e. the element ‘Los 40’).

Bearing in mind the foregoing, it must be concluded that the signs are visually similar at least to a low degree.

Aurally, irrespective of the different pronunciation rules in different parts of the relevant territory, the pronunciation of the signs coincides in the sound of the letters
‛T-U-B-E-(*-*), present identically in both signs. The pronunciation differs in the sound of the letters ‛RS’ of the word ‘TUBERS’ of the contested sign and in the sounds of the verbal elements ‘You’ of the earlier mark and ‘RADIO’ and ‘Los 40’ of the contested sign. However, RADIO’ and ‘Los 40’ are less likely to hold the consumers’ attention because of the lack of distinctiveness (i.e. the word ‘RADIO’ in relation to a part of the services), or of the small size and secondary position (i.e. the element ‘Los 40’). In view of the foregoing, it is concluded that the signs are aurally similar at least to a low degree.

Conceptually, reference is made to the previous assertions concerning the semantic content conveyed by the marks. As the signs will be associated with dissimilar meanings (i.e. the words ‘You’ and, for part of the public under analysis, ‘Tube’ of the earlier mark and the word ‘radio’, its depiction and ‘los 40’ of the contested sign) the signs are not conceptually similar.

Taking into account that the signs have been found similar in at least one aspect of the comparison, the examination of the existence of a risk of injury will proceed.

3. The ‘link’ between the signs

As seen above, the earlier mark is reputed and the signs are similar to some extent. In order to establish the existence of a risk of injury, it is necessary to demonstrate that, given all the relevant factors, the relevant public will establish a link (or association) between the signs. The necessity of such a ‘link’ between the conflicting marks in consumers’ minds is not explicitly mentioned in Article 8(5) EUTMR but has been confirmed in the judgments of 23/10/2003, C‑408/01, Adidas, EU:C:2003:582, § 29 and 31, and of 27/11/2008, C‑252/07, Intel, EU:C:2008:655, § 66. It is not an additional requirement but merely reflects the need to determine whether the association that the public might establish between the signs is such that either detriment or unfair advantage is likely to occur after all of the factors that are relevant to the particular case have been assessed.

Possible relevant factors for the examination of a ‘link’ include (27/11/2008, C‑252/07, Intel, EU:C:2008:655, § 42):

 the degree of similarity between the signs;

 the nature of the goods and services, including the degree of similarity or dissimilarity between those goods or services, and the relevant public;

 the strength of the earlier mark’s reputation;

 the degree of the earlier mark’s distinctive character, whether inherent or acquired through use;

 the existence of likelihood of confusion on the part of the public.

This list is not exhaustive and other criteria may be relevant depending on the particular circumstances. Moreover, the existence of a ‘link’ may be established on the basis of only some of these criteria.

As regards the degree of similarity between the marks at issue, it is clear from the case-law that, the more immediately and strongly the mark is brought to mind by the sign, the greater the likelihood that the current or future use of the sign is taking, or will take, unfair advantage of the distinctive character or the repute of the mark or is, or will be, detrimental to it (see, to that effect, judgment of 27/11/2008, C-252/07, Intel, EU:C:2008:655, § 67 to § 69; and judgment of 18/06/2009, C-487/07, L’Oréal, EU:C:2009:378, § 44). Moreover, the stronger the distinctive character of the earlier mark, the more likely it is that, when confronted with a later similar mark, the relevant public will associate it with that earlier mark.

Therefore, it is in the light of the abovementioned jurisprudence that the opponent’s claims must be examined.

In the present case, the signs have been found to be visually and aurally similar to a low degree, at least, to the extent that they share the letters T-U-B-E-(*-*) which form the entire distinctive word element of the earlier mark ‘Tube’ and represent the first four letters of the distinctive and independent element of the contested sign ‘TUBERS’. It is true that the signs differs in several elements, but part of them (i.e. the word ‘RADIO’, the radio depiction as well as the elements ‘Los 40’ of the contested sign), as explained above, have less impact in the comparison of the signs at least in relation to part of the services, at least, for the reasons already explained above.

It should also be remembered that the degree of similarity of the signs required under Article 8(5) EUTMR differs from the one required under Article 8(1)(b) EUTMR. Thus, whereas the protection provided for under Article 8(1)(b) EUTMR is conditional upon a finding of a degree of similarity between the marks at issue such that there is a likelihood of confusion between them on the part of the relevant section of the public, the existence of such a likelihood is not necessary for the protection conferred by Article 8(5) EUTMR. Accordingly, the types of injury referred to in Article 8(5) EUTMR may result from a lesser degree of similarity between the marks in question, provided that it is sufficient for the relevant section of the public to make a connection between those marks, that is to say, to establish a link between them (see judgment of24/03/2011, C‑552/09 P, TiMiKinderjoghurt, EU:C:2011:177, §  53 and the case-law cited therein).

As regards the distinctiveness of the earlier mark, the earlier mark is inherently distinctive for the services at hand. In addition, as already shown above, the earlier mark has been found to enjoy an enormous reputation among the relevant public in the European Union in connection with social video-sharing platforms and related services in Classes 38, 41 and 42.

As far as it concerns the conflicting goods and services, before further examination, it is appropriate to recall that the opposition is directed against the following services:

Class 35: Advertising; Business management; Business administration; Office function services; Organization of exhibitions for commercial or advertising purposes; Dissemination of advertising matter; Demonstration of goods; Commercial information agencies; Sales promotion (for others); Radio advertising; Television advertising; Rental of advertising space; Presentation of goods on communication media, for retail purposes; Business advice and information to consumers; Arranging newspaper subscriptions for others; Commercial administration of the licensing of the goods and services of others; Writing of publicity texts; Layout services for advertising purposes.

Class 38: Emission dissemination, transmission and broadcasting of radio and television programmes; emission, dissemination, transmission and broadcasting of interactive radio and television programmes; emission, dissemination, transmission and broadcasting of radio and television programmes via satellite; emission, dissemination, transmission and broadcasting of radio and television programmes relayed via cable link to television receivers; emission, dissemination, transmission and broadcasting of radio and television programmes via extra-terrestrial satellite; emission, dissemination, transmission and broadcasting of radio and television programmes relayed by microwave link to television receivers; interactive telecommunications to enable the pre-selection of programmes for viewing, to enable the recording of television programmes, to enable the automatic recording of programmes according to customers' viewing habits/preferences, enabling the pre-selection of programmes; reception of television programmes for onward transmission to subscribers; wireless transmission and broadcasting of television programmes; radio broadcasting of information and other programs; broadcasting of programmes via the internet; broadcasting of teleshopping programmes; emission, dissemination, transmission and broadcasting of programmes via local computer networks; electronic transmission of computer programs via the internet; Pay-per-view television transmission services.

Class 41: Editing and production services of radio and television programmes; Organisation and/or production of shows; Organisation of radio and television entertainment; Videotape production; Film production; Production of radio or television programmes; News reporters services; Photographic reporting; Television entertainment; Radio and television entertainment; Production of shows; Videotaping; Publication of electronic books and journals online; Use of on-line electronic publications (not downloadable by data transmission); Club services (entertainment or education); Arranging and conducting of colloquiums, entertainment, telephone entertainment; Games offered on-line on a computer network; Entertainment; Page layout not for advertising purposes.

The reputed opponent’s services are:

Class 38: Broadcasting services, namely, uploading, posting, showing, displaying, tagging, blogging, sharing or otherwise providing electronic media or information over the Internet or other communications network; broadcasting services; webcasting services; providing a video sharing portal; electronic communication services; transmission of messages, data and content via the Internet and other computer and communications networks; transmission of electronic media, multimedia content, videos, movies, pictures, images, text, photos, games, user-generated content, audio content, and information via the Internet and other computer and communications networks; providing digital program distribution of audio and video broadcasts over a global computer network; providing a video sharing portal for entertainment and education purposes.

Class 41: Entertainment services, namely, providing multimedia content or information over the Internet and (or) other communications network.

Class 42: Providing access to non-downloadable software to enable uploading, downloading, capturing, posting, showing, editing, playing, streaming, viewing, previewing, displaying, tagging, blogging, sharing, manipulating, distributing, publishing, reproducing, or otherwise providing electronic media, multimedia content, videos, movies, pictures, images, text, photos, games, user-generated content, audio content, and information via the Internet and other computer and communications networks; providing access to non-downloadable software to enable sharing of multimedia content.

As regards the contested services in Classes 35, 38 and 41 for which protection is sought under the contested sign, it should be noted that some of them are dissimilar to the opponent’s reputed services. However, bearing in mind their nature and the relevant market sectors to which they belong, the Opposition Division considers that the gap between them is not particularly large and that, consequently, there exists prima facie at least a possibility that the contested sign will remind the relevant consumers of the earlier marks.

This conclusion is reinforced by the significant strength of the reputation of the earlier marks ‘YouTube’, which enjoys an immediate recognition on the marketplace by the relevant public in the European Union, as has been demonstrated by the evidence submitted by the opponent.

Contested services in Class 35

- The contested mark seeks protection in this Class for several advertising services as well as other business assistance, management and administrative services and commercial trading and consumer information services. In this regard, it is first noted that advertising on Internet platforms is a rapidly growing trend and the opponent’s social video sharing platform is being used at the moment also as an advertising medium for businesses, through advertising in display or video format. The references to advertising on ‘YouTube’ in independent reports and statics as well as in press articles, can only support these findings. Bearing in mind the foregoing, and without saying that the earlier trade mark enjoys a reputation also for advertising services, the Opposition Division considers the contested advertising services, such as advertising; organization of exhibitions for commercial or advertising purposes; dissemination of advertising matter; demonstration of goods; sales promotion (for others); radio advertising; television advertising; rental of advertising space; presentation of goods on communication media, for retail purposes; writing of publicity texts; layout services for advertising purposes to be sufficiently close to the reputed social video sharing and related services so that consumers make a connection with the earlier reputed mark of the Opponent.

As to the rest of the contested services in Class 35 related to business management, administrative services and commercial trading and consumer information services, they are mainly business support activities intended to help companies to manage their businesses by setting out the strategy and/or direction of the company involving activities such as business research and appraisals, cost price analysis and organisation consultancy (e.g. the contested business management; business administration; office function services; commercial information agencies; commercial administration of the licensing of the goods and services of others) and services which provide information and consultation on the products sold/services provided (e.g. the contested business advice and information to consumers). Nowadays it is possible that modern IT companies as the opponent’s one, in addition to the principal activity, develop a series of diversified activities on several interconnected markets such as business sectors, as demonstrated by the evidence filed by the opponent showing that the latter addresses its video sharing services also to companies that desires to expand their business (‘YouTube Analytics: Using Data to Optimize Your Video Strategy’. ‘As the world’s largest video search engine, YouTube represents a rich vein of potential to businesses both in terms of building brand awareness and driving sales. Despite this, it’s not uncommon to find that developing an effective YouTube strategy can pose a challenge to even the largest of ecommerce companies). Moreover, the reputed services are related to the sharing of a wide variety of user-generated and corporate media content that can be also related to business management, commercial trading and/or consumer information services. In fact nowadays, in the digital era, business services can be also offered through internet channels. Consequentially there can be an overlap in the public.

Therefore, Opposition Division concludes that, with regard to their nature and taking into account all the relevant factors of the case in question and, in particular, the high reputation of the earlier mark, the gap between the remaining contested services in Class 35 and the reputed services related to video sharing activities in Classes 38, 41 and 42 is not so large and, consequently, there is a possibility that when encountering the contested mark the relevant consumers will be likely to establish a mental ‘link’ between the signs in relation these contested services.

Contested services in Class 38

The contested services in Class 38 are different kinds of telecommunication services, that are included in or closely related to the earlier reputed broadcasting services as they have the same nature, purpose, relevant public and can be offered by the same companies

Contested services in Class 41

The contested mark seeks protection in this Class for several entertaining services as well as publishing services. The contested entertainment services, such as editing and production services of radio and television programmes; organisation and/or production of shows; organisation of radio and television entertainment; videotape production; film production; production of radio or television programmes; news reporters services; photographic reporting; television entertainment; radio and television entertainment; production of shows; videotaping; club services (entertainment or education); entertainment, telephone entertainment; games offered on-line on a computer network; entertainment are closely related or at least connected to the earlier reputed services in Class 41 entertainment services, namely, providing multimedia content or information over the Internet and (or) other communications network, as they all have the same purpose of entertaining and are addressed to the same public. With regard to the contested services arranging and conducting of colloquiums the opponent demonstrated that apart from facilitating video sharing services, as ancillary activity, also provides meetings and workshops in order to help creators to produce their videos (The YouTube Spaces team is focused on helping creators make great content through strategic programs and workshops largely administered at the YouTube Space production facilities….‘YouTube’ statistics, Doc. C). Therefore, it is possible that consumers establish a mental ‘link’ between the signs in relation these contested services. The remaining publication services such as publication of electronic books and journals online; use of on-line electronic publications (not downloadable by data transmission); page layout not for advertising purposes in Class 41 also show a link with the earlier reputed services. Indeed, the opponent’s website is used for displaying content of a more general nature in various areas as the contested publication services that, along the same lines of reasoning, are aimed to the publication of contents of different natures.

Therefore, taking into account and weighing up all the relevant factors of the present case, the Opposition Division concludes that when encountering the contested sign the relevant consumers will be likely to establish a mental ‘link’ between the signs. However, although a ‘link’ between the signs is a necessary condition for further assessing whether detriment or unfair advantage are likely, the existence of such a link is not sufficient, in itself, for a finding that there may be one of the forms of damage referred to in Article 8(5) CTMR (judgment of 26/09/2012, T 301/09, ‘CITIGATE’, paragraph 96).

4. Risk of injury

Use of the contested mark will fall under Article 8(5) EUTMR when any of the following situations arise:

 it takes unfair advantage of the distinctive character or the repute of the earlier mark;

 it is detrimental to the repute of the earlier mark;

 it is detrimental to the distinctive character of the earlier mark.

Although detriment or unfair advantage may be only potential in opposition proceedings, a mere possibility is not sufficient for Article 8(5) EUTMR to be applicable. While the proprietor of the earlier mark is not required to demonstrate actual and present harm to its mark, it must ‘adduce prima facie evidence of a future risk, which is not hypothetical, of unfair advantage or detriment’ (06/07/2012, T‑60/10, Royal Shakespeare, EU:T:2012:348, § 53).

It follows that the opponent must establish that detriment or unfair advantage is probable, in the sense that it is foreseeable in the ordinary course of events. For that purpose, the opponent should file evidence, or at least put forward a coherent line of argument demonstrating what the detriment or unfair advantage would consist of and how it would occur, that could lead to the prima facie conclusion that such an event is indeed likely in the ordinary course of events.

The opponent claims the following:

• It is clear that in this case, there will be a taking of unfair advantage of the distinctiveness and reputation of the earlier trademark (free-riding). The mere association of the contested mark with the positive qualities of YouTube will give rise to an evident exploitation and unfair benefiting by the contested trade mark.

• The more exclusive the sign, the greater evocation of guarantee it produces among consumers. The risk that the proliferation of marks containing ‘TUBERS’ will dilute the distinctive character of the earlier ‘YouTube’ mark is evident. In the present case, the probability/risk of dilution is higher because the services covered by the contested mark are identical and similar to those for which ‘YouTube’ is used and for which it enjoys a very high reputation.

In other words, the opponent claims that use of the contested trade mark would take unfair advantage of the distinctive character or the repute of the earlier trade mark and be detrimental to the distinctive character of the earlier trade mark.

Unfair advantage (free-riding)

Unfair advantage in the context of Article 8(5) EUTMR covers cases where there is clear exploitation and ‘free‑riding on the coat‑tails’ of a famous mark or an attempt to trade upon its reputation. In other words, there is a risk that the image of the mark with a reputation or the characteristics which it projects are transferred to the goods and services covered by the contested trade mark, with the result that the marketing of those goods and services is made easier by their association with the earlier mark with a reputation (06/07/2012, T‑60/10, Royal Shakespeare, EU:T:2012:348, § 48, and 22/03/2007, T‑215/03, Vips, EU:T:2007:93, § 40).

The opponent bases its claim on the following:

• The mark ‘YouTube’ in word and figurative form is already extremely well-known in the market and enjoys attractive powers and a very high advertising value. Furthermore, as shown in the evidence included in Document A.3 (Wikipedia entry entitled: ‘List of YouTubers’ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_YouTubers and other online references from EU countries) and in many of the news/articles filed from UK and Spain (Documents C.3 and C.4), persons who have gained popularity in ‘YouTube’ or who upload, produce, or appear in videos on ‘YouTube’ are referred to as ‘YouTubers’ so such term is inextricably linked with the opponent, YouTube.

• The contested mark, ‘RADIO TUBERS los40’ will exploit the reputation, image and prestige acquired by the earlier mark leading to a situation of commercial parasitism. The applicant’s use of ‘TUBERS’ is a vehicle for generating consumer interest in its own advertising services, broadcasting services, and radio and television entertainment services which are identical or highly similar to the services for which the opposing marks enjoy reputation. This leads to an unacceptable situation in which the applicant is allowed to take a "free ride" on the investment of the opponent in promoting and building up goodwill for its mark, as it stimulates the success of the applicant's services to an extent which is disproportionately large in comparison with the size of its promotional investment.

• The use of a sign including ‘TUBERS’ combined with a descriptive/non-distinctive word, such as in the contested mark, and for identical and related services may easily obtain an unfair benefit of the distinctiveness and reputation of the earlier marks. When seeing the contested mark ‘RADIO TUBERS los40’ (fig.) consumers will automatically think of the ‘YouTube’ platform and social network and its services and users. In fact, the applicant relates its radio program ‘‘RADIO TUBERS los40’ with YouTube’ and ‘YouTubers’. The first page of a search conducted in Google for references containing ‘RadioTubers’ shows that the first result corresponds to the applicant’s web www.los40.com (http://los40.com/programa/radiotubers/) and that it expressly refers to the opposing mark ‘YouTube’ and to ‘the youtuber world’, when promoting its radio program ‘The revolutionary radio program about the youtuber world. Discover in Radiotubers all the novelties of Youtube with Uri Sàbat in LOS40’.

According to the Court of Justice of the European Union

… as regards injury consisting of unfair advantage taken of the distinctive character or the repute of the earlier mark, in so far as what is prohibited is the drawing of benefit from that mark by the proprietor of the later mark, the existence of such injury must be assessed by reference to average consumers of the goods or services for which the later mark is registered, who are reasonably well informed and reasonably observant and circumspect. (27/11/2008, C 252/07, Intel, EU:C:2008:655, § 36.).

To sum up, the earlier mark’s reputed services and the contested services mostly share a strong or sufficiently close connection with the contested services in Classes 35, 38 and 41. This connection is found to be naturally strong in relation to some of the contested services in Classes 35, 38 and 41, whereas, it may be considered less obvious for the remaining services, such as business management and administration services in Class 35.

Nevertheless, in view of the strong reputation of the earlier mark, it is considered that the lower degree of closeness between the services is in any event sufficient to trigger a mental link and remind of the earlier mark since large modern-day IT companies, as the opponent’s one, have rather diversified profiles and operate on several interconnected markets.

It is to be noted that the proprietor of the earlier mark only needs to demonstrate prima facie evidence of a future risk, which is not hypothetical, of unfair advantage or detriment (25/05/2005, T 67/04, Spa-Finders, EU:T:2005:179, § 40).

According to the opponent, the contested mark, ‘RADIO TUBERS los40’, will exploit the reputation, image and prestige acquired by the earlier mark ‘YouTube’ leading to a situation of commercial parasitism as the applicant’s use of ‘TUBERS’ is a vehicle for generating consumer interest in its own advertising services, broadcasting services, and radio and television entertainment services. In addition, in its observations, the opponent provides printouts from the applicant’s website (http://los40.com/programa/radiotubers/) where the applicant expressly refers to the opposing mark ‘YouTube’ and to ‘the youtuber world’.

The opponent also provides evidence demonstrating that the term ‘tubers’ is strictly connected to the applicant mark ‘YouTube’ as the term ‘youtubers’ is commonly used to make reference to the users that upload videos on ‘YouTube’ (Doc A.3) arguing that the inclusion of the term ‘tubers’ in the applicant’s sign is not casual.

As confirmed by the General Court, ‘the risk of free-riding may be established on the basis of logical deductions resulting from an analysis of the probabilities and by taking account of the usual practices in the relevant commercial sector as well as all the other circumstances of the case. The case-law allows taking account of any evidence intended to facilitate the analysis of the probabilities as regards the intention of the proprietor of the EUTM applied for and -a fortiori - any evidence relating to the actual commercial use of the mark applied for (11/12/2014, T-480/12, Coca-Cola vs. Master, EU:T:2014:1062, § 88).’ Therefore, the opponent’s evidence referred to above should be considered by the assessment of the risk of injury.

It must be also recalled that the protection under Article 8(5) EUTMR extends to all cases where the use of the contested trade mark applied for is likely to have an adverse effect on the earlier mark, in the sense that it is, inter alia, likely to result in misappropriation of the powers of attraction or exploitation of the earlier mark’s image and prestige (unfair advantage of the distinctive character or repute).

Furthermore, taking unfair advantage does not necessarily require a deliberate intention to exploit the goodwill attached to someone else’s trade mark. The concept of taking unfair advantage ‘concerns the risk that the image of the mark with a reputation or the characteristics which it projects are transferred to the goods covered by the mark applied for, with the result that the marketing of those goods is made easier by that association with the earlier mark with a reputation’ (judgments of 19/06/2008, T-93/06, Mineral Spa, EU:T:2008:215, § 40; 22/03/2007, T-215/03, Vips, EU:T:2007:93, § 40; 30/01/2008, T-128/06, Camelo, EU:T:2008:22, § 46).

Therefore, taking into account all the relevant factors listed above, it cannot be ruled out that through the use of the contested sign the applicant may benefit from the attractiveness of the earlier mark ‘YouTube’ and exploit the marketing effort expended by the opponent in order to develop its brand in such way building-up an image of excellence, for which it did not pay any financial compensation.

On the basis of the above, the Opposition Division concludes that the contested trade mark is likely to take unfair advantage of the distinctive character or the repute of the earlier trade mark.

Other types of injury

The opponent also argues that use of the contested trade mark would be detrimental to the distinctive character of the earlier trade mark.

As seen above, the existence of a risk of injury is an essential condition for Article 8(5) EUTMR to apply. The risk of injury may be of three different types. For an opposition to be well founded in this respect it is sufficient if only one of these types is found to exist. In the present case, as seen above, the Opposition Division has already concluded that the contested trade mark would take unfair advantage of the distinctive character or repute of the earlier trade mark. It follows that there is no need to examine whether other types also apply.

5. Conclusion

As mentioned above, the comparison of the signs at issue under Article 8(5) EUTMR has been performed in relation to the non-English-speaking part of the public.

As stated above in section b) of this decision, a risk of injury for only part of the relevant public of the European Union is sufficient to reject the contested application.

Considering all the above, the opposition is well founded under Article 8(5) EUTMR. Therefore, the contested trade mark must be rejected for all the contested services.

Given that the opposition is entirely successful under Article 8(5) EUTMR, it is not necessary to examine the remaining grounds and earlier rights on which the opposition is based.

COSTS

According to Article 109(1) EUTMR, the losing party in opposition proceedings must bear the fees and costs incurred by the other party.

Since the applicant is the losing party, it must bear the opposition fee as well as the costs incurred by the opponent in the course of these proceedings.

According to Article 109(1) and (7) EUTMR and Article 18(1)(c)(i) EUTMIR (former Rule 94(3) and (6) and Rule 94(7)(d)(i) EUTMIR, in force before 01/10/2017), the costs to be paid to the opponent are the opposition fee and the costs of representation, which are to be fixed on the basis of the maximum rate set therein.

The Opposition Division

Martina GALLE

Angela DI BLASIO

Birgit Holst FILTENBORG

According to Article 67 EUTMR, any party adversely affected by this decision has a right to appeal against this decision. According to Article 68 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 for appeal must be filed within four months of the same date. The notice of appeal will be deemed to have been filed only when the appeal fee of EUR 720 has been paid.