Produits Ella Bache Laboratoire Suzy v Chanel Limited

Produits Ella Bache Laboratoire Suzy and Chanel Limited were parties to a dispute concerning the registration of a trade mark. The matter came before the Registrar of Trade Marks.

The primary legal issue before the Registrar was whether the proposed trade mark, "SUZY PERFUMES", was deceptively similar to Chanel's registered trade mark "SUZY". This involved an assessment of the degree of resemblance between the two marks and the likelihood of confusion among consumers.

The Registrar considered the principles of deceptive similarity under the relevant trade mark legislation. The Registrar found that while both marks shared the word "SUZY", the addition of "PERFUMES" to the applicant's mark, and the distinctiveness of Chanel's mark in the context of cosmetic products, meant there was no likelihood of deception or confusion. The Registrar noted that the word "SUZY" itself was not inherently distinctive and could be used in conjunction with other descriptive words.