The Japan Patent Office (JPO) dismissed an opposition brought by the Italian fashion house Gucci against Japan Trademark Registration No. 6384970 for the mark "CUGGL" with a hand-painted pink line on July 12, 2022, finding there was less likelihood of confusion with the well-known clothing manufacturer "GUCCI."
On October 6, 2020, a person filed a trademark application for the phrase "CUGGL" with a hand-painted pink line in class 25, for use on clothes, footwear, headwear, and outerwear.
On May 25, 2021, the JPO published the opposing mark for objection and awarded protection to it.
On July 26, 2021, Italian high-end luxury fashion house GUCCI submitted an opposition to the JPO, arguing that the opposed mark should be cancelled due to similarity and a likelihood of confusion with the well-known fashion brand "GUCCI," in violation of Article 4(1)(vii), (xv), and (xix) of the Trademark Law.
The opposing mark, according to GUCCI, was obtained with the malicious goal of free-riding on goodwill and reputation by concealing the lower portion of the term "CUGGL" with a pink painted line so that consumers could mistake it for "GUCCI."
In reality, the registrant advertises T-shirts with the opposing mark on them but with the majority of the word covered.
The JPO Opposition Board acknowledged the opponent's "GUCCI" mark's extraordinary level of popularity and renown.
From a visual, phonetic, and conceptual standpoint, the Board did not discover any similarities between "GUCCI" and "CUGGL" in the interim. The Board saw no cause to think that relevant consumers would mistakenly believe a source of products in question bearing the opposed mark came from GUCCI or any organisation systematically or economically related to the opponent due to the low degree of mark resemblance.
The Board cannot find a reasonable basis to admit the applicant had a malicious intention to free-ride on the goodwill and reputation of GUCCI and hurt the rival, even if there is a low degree of resemblance between the marks and a low likelihood of confusion.
Based on the aforementioned, the JPO found the opposing mark was legitimate and rejected all accusations.
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