Applied-for mark  “IIVAX_A1” is opposed

LIXIL Corporation, headquartered at 2-1-1 Ojima, Koto-ku, Tokyo, Japan, owner of National (VN) Trademark Registration no.70216 “INAX, figure”, currently in effect  in Vietnam, for “Multi-jet flush toilet and its components; Toilet seats (including toilet seats with cleaning water nozzles, ...” in Class 11 (the cited trademark) has petitioned with the IP Vietnam to oppose national applied-for mark application no.4-2020-15503 “IIVAX _ A1” for products “Sanitary equipment: ceramic toilet”  in Class 11 on the grounds that the applied-for mark is confusingly similar to the cited mark already registered, in particular:

(i) The applied-for mark "IIVAX_A1" includes three elements, namely the word "IIVAX", the underscore ( _ ) and the word "A1", among which the word "IIVAX" being determined dominant and distinctive will be taken into consideration when assessing the likelihood of confusing similarity; the underscore ( _ ) and word A1, pursuant to Article 74.2.(a) of IP Law are non-distinctive therefore they will not be considered;

The cited earlier trademark "INAX, figure" includes the word element "INAX" and the image element is the stylized letter L, among which the word "INAX" is determined as dominant and distinctive factor;

Visually, the word “IIVAX” with letters written next to each other is similar to the word “INAX”. And phonetically they are also the same.

Therefore, it can be concluded that the sign sought for registration is confusingly similar to the cited earlier mark.

(ii)     the goods bearing these marks are similar or related to each other.

The case is being handled by the IP Vietnam./.