What happened?
In February 2017, the well-known football club Associazione
Calcio Milan SpA ("AC Milan") filed an application to
register its emblem as an international trademark designating the
EU for many goods including goods in Class 16 (paper, cardboard,
stationery items, writing materials, etc.).
Defending its German word trademark "Milan" registered
in 1988 for goods such as "paper",
"cardboards", "stationery" in Class 16, the
German office supply store InterES Handels1 introduced
an opposition before the European Union Intellectual Property
Office (EUIPO) to prevent the registration of AC Milan's
trademark application with respect to the goods mentioned above.
InterES Handels was claiming the existence of a risk of confusion
between its prior trademark and AC Milan's trademark
application for these goods.
