Coca-Cola Corporation recently won a case against the registration of mark "酷兒" (which pronounced like QOO)trademark and device on leather products by the third party Zhang Huaying, who received a favorable ruling from the Trademark Review and Adjudication Board (TRAB) that the mark "酷兒" is registrable. According to the Beijing No.1 Intermediate People’s Court, the mark "酷兒"should be denied registration.
The Kale Trading Company in Sanxiang Town in Zhongshan City is owned by Zhang, and Zhang applied for registration of No. 3154096 trademark "酷兒" and device (the opposed trademark) in Class 18 for schoolbags, luggage, leather products etc. Coca-cola then challenged the trademark before the Trademark Office (TMO) under SAIC. However, the TMO denied Coca-cola's claim.
Then Coca-Cola filed for review before TRAB. After review, the TRAB held that the opposed trademark is obviously different in terms of function, use, production methods, marketing and distribution channels from the three cited trademarks “QOO”, “酷儿” and the “酷兒” owned by Coca-cola Corporation. Further, TRAB held that the two trademarks are for different classes of goods. Thus, the coexistence of the opposed mark and the cited mark in the market would not lead to consumers’ confusion.
