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Likelihood of confusion between two trademarks of weak distinctive caracter: MICRO FOCUS vs. FOCUS
The Court of First Instance ruled a decision on 16 May 2007 in the case T-491/04 (Merant GmbH vs. OHIM), concluding that there exists a likelihood of confusion between the conflicting trademarks MICRO FOCUS (with device) and FOCUS (word trademark).
The opponent is the owner of the earlier German trademark registration:
protected for goods and services in classes 09, 16, 41, 42, whereas the applicant filed a community trademark for the sign "FOCUS" in various classes, among others in classes 09, 16, 41 and 42, covering goods and services identical to the earlier "MICRO FOCUS" trademark registration.
According to the Court, the conflicting signs are conceptually and visually similar. The Court considers the word element "FOCUS" as being the dominant element of the earlier trademark, as the relevant public, i.e. the German consumers will perceive the English word "MICRO" as meaning "small" and might consequently be mislead by thinking that the earlier trademark is a variation of the younger trademark and vice-versa.
The differences between the signs, the supplemental word and phonetically element "MICRO" in the earlier trademark and the graphic element of the earlier trademark do not avoid any likelihood of confusion between the conflicting trademarks, as the existing similarities on visual and conceptual levels are quite high and as the concerned goods and services are identical or at least similar.