Alert: AG clarifies scope of IP Translator and Praktiker cases (EUIPO v Cactus)

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IP & IT analysis: The Advocate General has recommended that the Court of Justice dismiss an appeal by the EUIPO against a decision by the General Court in an opposition case concerning the figurative sign CACTUS OF PEACE CACTUS DE LA PAZ, in a decision which clarifies the scope of the Court of Justice’s decisions in IP Translator (C-307/10) and Praktiker (C-418/02). The opposition was based on earlier trade marks, pursuant to Article 8(1)(b) of Council Regulation (EC) 207/2009 (EUTMR). The General Court had annulled a decision of the EUIPO annulling the decision of the Opposition Division to the extent that it had found that genuine use of earlier trade marks had been established. The EUIPO’s first ground of appeal was that the General Court’s judgment breached Article 28 EUTMR, read in conjunction with Rule 2 of Regulation (EC) 2868/95, because it equated the coverage of the class heading in class 35 with all the services belonging to that...