2011 Heo 2619 Trademark registration invalidation
(Earlier registered trademark)
Designated goods : Beverage flavoring, household cleaners, etc
[Registered trademark]
designated goods : massage gel, massage oil, etc.
[Comparison with the earlier registered mark]
1) Dominant element of the registered mark
The registered mark comprises five Chinese characters. The smaller “化粧品” element directly indicates or evokes the designated cosmetics and lacks distinctiveness. By contrast, “雪黃” is a coined expression unrelated to the designated goods and is distinctive.
- A dominant element independently distinguishes the goods or leaves an impression in consumers' memories that identifies their source.
2) Appearance
The dominant element “雪黃” and the earlier mark “雪花” each consist of two Chinese characters. Although they share the first character “雪”, the second characters “黃” and “花” are clearly distinguishable, so the overall appearances are not similar.
3) Pronunciation
The dominant element “雪黃” is pronounced “Seolhwang”, while the earlier mark “雪花” is pronounced “Seolhwa”. The final ng sound in the second syllable creates a different auditory impression. Because each expression has only two syllables, consumers can readily distinguish “hwang” from “hwa”.
4) Concept
“雪黃” may suggest “yellow snow” from its Chinese characters or be perceived as a coined term without a definite meaning. “雪花” means “snowflake” or “snow flower”. Their concepts therefore differ.
[Decisions]
The marks differ in appearance, pronunciation and concept and are dissimilar overall. The court also considered the attention paid to cosmetic brands by the relevant consumers and found no likelihood of confusion from the limited shared elements.
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