On October 21, 2008, the European Court of First Instance reversed the previous rulings of the OHIM by stating that PRAZOL and PREZAL were similar.
For the Court, the marks had visually the same number of syllables and 5 identical letters.
Orally, their two syllables had a very close sound and the same succession of consonants. This decision is in line with a growing tendency to enlarge the scope of protection of short trademarks. Legal persistence at the various levels of the OHIM may also pay.