General Mills, Inc., an American company, opposed the above application claiming that the same is confusingly similar to their trademark “TRIX”.

Our counter statement was based on the following:

• Our client is one of the leading companies in the region in the field of manufacturing and producing goods included in class 32.
• Our client is the legitimate owner of the trademark Kent Boringer TRIX.
• Our client holds prior registrations in the country of origin (Turkey) and many other jurisdictions.
• Our client has continuous use of its trademark within the Palestinian National Authority Territories (West Bank & Gaza) markets.
• Our client obtained favorable decisions against oppositions filed by the opponent in respect of the said trademark in UAE and Kuwait.
• The general appearance, the pronunciation, and the phonetics of our client’s trademark will not lead to confusion with the opponent trademark.
• The products for which our client’s trademark is applied for are incorporated in class 32, while the opponent’s trademark is used for the goods included in Classes 29 & 30, accordingly the possibility of public confusion could barely occur.

After full litigation, and considering the above, the Registrar issued his ruling in our favor rejecting the opposition and accepting the registration of our client’s trademark application.

If you have any questions, kindly contact west-bank@qumsieh.com.

Our client “SOYYIGIT GIDA SANAYI VE TICARET ANONIM SIRKETI” filed a trademark application for the registration of “Kent Boringer TRIX” with color device in class 32 under No. 82414 dated 28 June 2006, which was published in the Official Gazette No. 79 on 16 March 2008.

Mars Incorporated opposed the above trademark application claiming confusing similarities with its trademarks TWIX and TRIXO registered in Classes 29 and 30.

We based our opposition on the following:

• The differences between our client’s trademark and Mars’ trademarks.
• The differences in terms of the words, the letters, the pronunciation, the phonetics, the design, and the colors.
• The list of goods and classes are different.

In the light of the above, the Registrar has issued his favorable decision rejecting the opposition by Mars Incorporated and accepting the registration of the trademark application “Kent Boringer TRIX” on 31 January 2010.

The Registrar justified his decision that our client’s trademark illustrates tremendous differences from the plaintiff’s trademarks, which therefore diminishes the possibility of public confusion.

Mars was not satisfied and appealed before the Committee of Trademarks.

However, and after full verification of and considering the above, the presiding Committee confirmed the Registrar’s decision and rejected Mars’ appeal.

If you have any questions regarding the above, kindly contact us at uae@qumsieh.com.

Acting on behalf of our client, SOYYIGIT GIDA SANAYI VE TICARET ANONIM SIRKETI, a Turkish company and the owner of the trademark “Kent Boringer TRIX”, we filed an opposition to cancel the above application.

Our case was based on the following arguments:

• Kent Boringer TRIX is owned by our client in the country of origin in addition to a number of countries around the world.
• Our client has prior registrations of the subject trademark in Turkey, Morocco, and others.
• The prior use of our Client’s trademark in Morocco.
• Accepting the registration of the opposed trademark application will lead to public confusion and unfair competition.

After full litigation, and considering the above, the Registrar issued his decision ruling in favor of our client and rejecting the registration of the opposed trademark application.

For more information regarding the above, contact morocco@qumsieh.com.