Facts
The company Burberrys Ltd, based in London, holds a word/figurative trademark registered in Switzerland since 1914 and renewed in 1957 under number 167954. This trademark consists of a black rectangle with a decorated white border, on which the name "Burberrys" appears in white and below it the white image of a knight on a galloping horse. The company Paul Hubatka Söhne, based in Altstätten, filed in 1965 the trademark No. 213904 representing the image of a knight on a rearing horse. Burberrys Ltd requested the cancellation of this trademark on the grounds that it would be confused with its own, but Hubatka Söhne refused. The Commercial Court of St. Gallen rejected Burberrys Ltd's request, finding that the two trademarks were sufficiently distinct. Burberrys Ltd appealed this decision.Considerations
The Federal Tribunal considers that the two trademarks are easily confused, despite the differences in details. The image of the knight on horseback, which constitutes the essential element of the two trademarks, creates a similar overall impression in the mind of the average consumer, who will only retain the characteristic features and not the secondary details. The fact that the Burberrys trademark also includes the word "Burberrys" does not…