On January 12th, 2006, the European Court of First Instance ruled that these two trademarks were liable to cause confusion for products in class 14. The judge retains that the logo included in the Community trademark application was not sufficient to compensate the prefix Quant shared with the earlier mark to the extent that (i) this logo was descriptive in respect of watches, but also and this is more interesting, (ii) because, as the size of watch faces is relatively small, it will be difficult to visually perceive the representation of the figurative element which, in this case, is not centred in the arrangement of the compound mark, but appear above the verbal element of the mark applied for.
(Community trademark application) VS./ (Earlier trademark opposed)
The Court adopts a position along with the principles that apply to word and device trademark. However, the impact given to the purchasing situation is really interesting insofar as the judge seems to open the door to a possible importance of a figurative element which remains in our view limited to the particular products (watches) in light of the dominant case law.