September 2017. August Storck, the owner of the Merci chocolates, has successfully filed an opposition to the new Thank You Chocolats brand, marketed by the Spanish company Imagine S.L. On 28 August 2017, the opposition division of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) turned down Imagine’s trademark registration.

Conceptually similar

The EUIPO concluded that the Merci and Thank You Chocolats brands were conceptually highly similar. It also noted that the Merci brand enjoyed widespread familiarity and a strong reputation across the EU through prolonged use and advertising and that Imagine was clearly trying to unjustly benefit from this reputation. This constituted an infringement of Merci’s trademark.