Do “VEURO” and “EURO-R” look or sound similar to you? Well, the Indonesian Trademark Office believed so, and thus began the case between Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd (“Sumitomo”) and the Trademark Appeal Commission.
Sumitomo, a tire manufacturing company from Japan, filed an application for the “VEURO” trademark for goods in class 12. By the time the application entered the substantive phase, the application was refused by the Trademark Examiner due to similarity with the existing “EURO-R” trademark, under registration number IDM000104004 in class 12, in the name of Soe Bie Lian, an Indonesian citizen.
Sumitomo strongly objected to the decision made by the Trademark Examiner as they were of the opinion that “VEURO” had no similarity in writing or pronunciation to “EURO-R”. They decided to file an objection of the refusal to the Trademark Appeal Commission.
Unexpectedly, the Trademark Appeal Commission decided on 2 February 2010 that they agreed with the Trademark Examiner “VEURO” is similar to “EURO-R”.
This situation was detrimental to Sumitomo’s business in Indonesia as they had every reason to want to have their trademark registered. In Indonesian Trademark Law, if trademark applicants disagreed with the decision made by the Trademark Appeal Commission, they are allowed to file a lawsuit against the decision at the Commercial Court. Naturally, this was Sumitomo’s next course of action.
Sumitomo filed a lawsuit against the Trademark Appeal Commission at the Commercial Court, and after several trials, the Judges of the Commercial Court delivered a verdict on 11 October 2011 stating that VEURO is not similar to EURO-R, and asserted that the decision made by the Trademark Appeal Commission was wrong.
So if you are facing a similar case and your trademark has been refused by the Trademark Appeal Commission, there is still an option to battle it out at the Commercial Court. The judges at the Commercial Court have been trained and have years of experience in IPR cases, assuring you a just outcome.
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