El Corte Inglés: trademark case against “The English Cut” continues

By

Elena Campos Valladares

Published
Dec 11, 2015

Spain’s largest department store El Corte Inglés, which translates as “The English Cut”, is trying to stop a potential competitor from using this name. The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled on Thursday in favor of El Corte Inglés, which asked for another analysis after the General Court dismissed its objection to the trademark “The Spanish Cut”, owned by a Spanish clothing firm.

According to the Spanish newspaper El País, both the General Court and the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM) had dismissed the opposition on the grounds that it was unlikely consumers would be confused despite “El Corte Inglés” and “The Spanish Cut” having the same meaning. The General Court, which is a constituent of the Court of Justice of the European Union, also declared that consumers would not associate both brands immediately, “especially considering that most Spanish-speaking consumers are not likely to have a good command of English”.

However, the Court of Justice of the EU annulled on Friday the General Court’s decision, declaring that there is indeed a similarity between the brands, and that it should have also considered other factors, such as El Corte Inglés’ notoriety.

The case is ongoing.