Press Release: Judgment of the Court of Justice in Case C-533/06. O2 Holdings Limited and O2 (UK) Limited v Hutchison 3G UK Limited

O2 cannot rely on its trade mark rights to prevent the use of a similar sign in a comparative advertisement for Hutchison 3G. A trade mark proprietor is not entitled to prevent the use of a sign identical with, or similar to, a mark in a comparative advertisement if there is no likelihood of confusion on the part of the consumer between the advertiser and the proprietor of the mark or between the advertiser’s marks, goods or services and those of the proprietor of the mark.