No Proof Of Malice, No Bad Faith

The Sofia City Court (SCC) has recently issued a decision stating that the Bulgarian producer and importer of canned fruit and vegetables Misota did not act in bad faith when filing the trademark application MIRELA (combined application No. 91118; November 9, 2006). The SCC decision entered into force on May 16, 2012.

The SCC rejected the action filed by Tengelmann Warenhandelsgesellschaft KG, doing business as the Tengelmann Group, on the grounds of Article 26, Paragraph 3, item 4 of the Bulgarian Law on Marks and Geographical Indications (LMGI).

The plaintiff, a German-based multi-sector retailer present in much of Europe, is the owner of the international registration (IR) MIRELLA (No. 849083; word mark), registered for goods in IC 32, namely fruit syrups for making beverages.

In 2006, the defendant applied for the national trademark registration MIRELA and the trademark was registered in August 2010 for goods and services in IC 29, 30, 31, 32, namely beer, mineral and aerated waters.

During the legal proceedings, an expert concluded that there is a similarity between the marks in question, which creates a likelihood of...