The Polish Patent Office refused to grant the right of protection for the word-figurative trade mark PRODUCT OF ITALY FILIPETTI Casa Fondata nel 1922 VERMOUTH EXTRA DRY Ricetta Originale Filipetti Prodotto seguendo la tradizionale ricetta della Casa Filipetti Z-298152 that was applied for by Domain Menada Sp. z o.o. for goods in Class 33. The PPO decided that this trade mark is similar to the word trade marks FILIPETTI R-101614 and R-140718 owned by Belvedere S.A. Domain Menada argued that it is a part of the Belvedere Group, and provided a letter of consent. The Company filed a complaint against this decision.

The Voivodeship Administrative Court in Warsaw in its judgment of 21 June 2010 case file VI SA/Wa 711/10 dismissed it. The Court held that in any case, the mere existence of links (relationships) between entrepreneurs belonging to the same capital group cannot be regarded as a guarantee of quality of product bearing the disputed trade mark.

It should be noted that the capital group is a specific form of business, where corporate governance is exercised at several levels – both across the group and in individual companies. The mere membership in a capital group cannot be used as an argument that the signs from affiliated companies will not mislead consumers. Domain Menada filed a cassation complaint.

The Supreme Administrative Court in its judgment of 8 December 2011 case file II GSK 1245/10 dismissed it. The SAC held that the letter of consent was not binding and the PPO examined its effects in different aspects, based on gathered evidence, and it found that the letter of consent is not an exemption to grounds for refusing trade mark protection

Categories: Art. 131(1)(iii) IPL | Art. 131(3) IPL | Art. 143 IPL | Art. 144 IPL | Art. 145 IPL | Art. 4(5) Directive 89/104 | letter of consent | likelihood of confusion | similarity of signs | Voivodeship Administrative Court.