Link: https://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/application/pdf/2021-11/cp210198en.pdf

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General Court of the European Union

PRESS RELEASE No 198/21

Luxembourg, 10 November 2021

Judgment in Case T-353/20 AC Milan v EUIPO- InterES (ACM 1899 AC MILAN)

The General Court confirms that the sign representing the crest of the football club AC Milan cannot be registered internationally as a trade mark designating the Union for stationery and office supplies

The high degree of aural similarity and average visual similarity of that sign with the earlier German word mark MILAN gives rise to a likelihood of confusion on the part of consumers which excludes their simultaneous protection in the Union

An international registration of a trade mark designating the European Union has the same effect as the registration of a European Union trade mark and is subject to the same opposition procedure as European Union trade mark applications.

In February 2017, the Italian football club AC Milan filed an application for international registration designating the European Union with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) under the EU Trademark Regulation 1 for the following figurative sign concerning, inter alia, stationery and office supplies:

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