Do “VEURO” and “EURO-R” look or sound similar to you? Well, the Indonesian Trademark Office believed so, and thus began the case between Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd (“Sumitomo”) and the Trademark Appeal Commission.
Sumitomo, a tire manufacturing company from Japan, filed an application for the “VEURO” trademark for goods in class 12. By the time the application entered the substantive phase, the application was refused by the Trademark Examiner due to similarity with the existing “EURO-R” trademark, under registration number IDM000104004 in class 12, in the name of Soe Bie Lian, an Indonesian citizen.