At first Coca Cola is not successful, mostly because MASTER is a word very different from COCA COLA. Because of this the consumer would allegedly not be confused. Words generally play a larger role when comparing two trademarks. The European Court, however, took an entirely different approach. The court noted that there were some striking similarities between the two trademarks as well. Both marks had a “tail” as an extension to their C and M, respectively. Furthermore, the typography was based on the (unusual) Spencer font.
Because the goods involved are supermarket products the design has a very important impact. The consequence of this is that the trademarks are in fact somewhat similar when taking this into account. The earlier ruling was overturned and it all ended for MASTER
