Seven Spa scores double victory in Romania

Italian company Seven Spa - the owner of international registrations for SEVEN and 7SEVEN - has successfully opposed applications for registration of SEVEN HILL and SEVEN filed by Turkish company Bes Yildiz Tekstil Ve Konfeksion Sanayi Ticaret AS (Bes) and Chinese firm Fujian Qipaijituan Youxian Gongsi (Fujian) respectively (Cases 10111736/2002 and 1021830/2002).

Bes applied to register with the Romanian State Office for Inventions and Trademarks (SOIT) the mark SEVEN HILL for goods in Classes 25 and 28 of the Nice Classification, while Fujian applied to register SEVEN in Class 25. Seven opposed both applications for registration on the basis of its SEVEN and 7SEVEN marks registered in a number of international classes.

The SOIT upheld both of Seven's opposition actions and refused registration. It held that Bes's and Fujian's marks (i) were phonetically similar to Seven's trademarks, and (ii) covered similar goods to those protected by Seven's marks. Both marks, therefore, were likely to cause confusion in the marketplace pursuant to Article 6(c) of the Romanian Trademark Law (Law 84/1998 on marks and geographical indications).

The decisions may be appealed to the Re-Examination Committee of the SOIT.

Alexandru Harsany, Nestor Nestor Diculescu Kingston Petersen, Bucharest