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May 5, 2020
“OMEGA” admitted as well-known and reputed trademark; identical mark “OMEGA” owned by Grigorius Holdings SIA invalidated
On 24 February, 2020 the Board of Appeal of Industrial Property examined the opposition filed in the name of the Swiss company OMEGA SA (OMEGA AG) (OMEGA LTD.) against the Latvian trademark registration No. M 73 990 “OMEGA”. The opposition was filed against the goods in class 9 and services in classes 35, 38, 41. The owner of the contested mark is Grigorius Holdings, SIA, which is related to the famous trademark pirate Michael Gleissner.
The trademark attorney Gunta Zariņa represented the opponent COMEGA SA (OMEGA AG) (OMEGA LTD.) in this opposition matter.
The opposition was based on likelihood of confusion between the visually, phonetically and conceptually identical marks “OMEGA”, as well as the contested mark of being capable of taking unfair advantage of and causing detriment to the distinctive character and the repute of the earlier trade mark.
After reviewing the reputation evidence in the opposition case, the Board of Appeal acknowledged that the word mark “OMEGA” is well known to the relevant Latvian consumers in relation to watches and sports timing devices. The long-standing reputation of “OMEGA” watches in the world started in 1848 and the prestigious nature of these watches has been systematically reflected in many Latvian publications. Consumers know “OMEGA” watches especially due to the significant role of it in the “007” series and as one of the sponsors of the Olympic Games.