Judgment_paragraph 37 · Sigla v European Union Intellectual Property Office (T-215/03)

37So far as concerns, first, detriment to the distinctive character of the earlier mark by the use without due cause of the mark applied for, that detriment can occur where the earlier mark is no longer capable of arousing immediate association with the goods for which it is registered and used (SPA-FINDERS, paragraph 34 above, paragraph 43). That risk thus refers to the ‘dilution’ or ‘gradual whittling away’ of the earlier mark through the dispersion of its identity and its hold upon the public mind (Opinion of Advocate General Jacobs in Adidas-Salomon and Adidas Benelux, cited in paragraph 36 above, point 37).