On 1 February 2023, the General Court of the European Union (GC) issued two decisions in cases T-568/21 and T-596/21 (Harbaoui v EUIPO and Google) concerning the application of two trademarks consisting of "GOOGLE CAR" and "GC GOOGLE CAR" filed for vehicles and conveyances by an entity unrelated to Google (the "Opposed Trademarks"). Google successfully opposed the Opposed Trademarks both in the first instance and before the EUIPO Board of Appeal. The GC confirmed the non-registrability of the Trademark Applications because, inter alia, theuse without due cause of the trademarks applied for would take unfair advantage of many of Google's trademarks. While rejecting the applicants' arguments, the GC found that, due to the reputation of the earlier trademarks, consumers may believe that the goods (i.e. vehicles and conveyances) bearing the Opposed Trademarks may incorporate Google technology, also because of the fact that Google is involved in many projects dealing with self-driving cars.
Originally published by March, 2023
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