Judgment_paragraph 80 · La Rioja Alta, SA v Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) (T-489/13)

80Although it is undoubtedly for the proprietor of the contested trade mark to demonstrate during the proceedings before OHIM concerning relative grounds of refusal that such coexistence was based upon the absence of any likelihood of confusion on the part of the relevant public between the mark upon which the proprietor relies and the earlier mark on which the application for annulment is based (see, to that effect, judgments of 11 May 2005 in Grupo Sada v OHIM — Sadia (GRUPO SADA), T‑31/03, ECR, EU:T:2005:169, paragraph 86, and of 10 April 2013 in Höganäs v OHIM — Haynes (ASTALOY), T‑505/10, EU:T:2013:160, paragraph 48), it is open to such a proprietor to advance a body of evidence to that effect. In that regard, evidence demonstrating that the relevant public recognised each of the trade marks at issue before the time of filing the application for registration of the contested mark is particularly relevant (see, to that effect and by analogy, judgments in GRUPO SADA, cited above, EU:T:2005:169, paragraph 89, and of 25 May 2005 in TeleTech Holdings v OHIM — Teletech International (TELETECH GLOBAL VENTURES), T‑288/03, ECR, EU:T:2005:177, paragraph 100). In addition, in so far as according to the case-law the coexistence of two trade marks must be sufficiently long to be capable of influencing the perception of the relevant consumers (see, to that effect, judgments of 1 March 2005 in Fusco v OHIM — Fusco International (ENZO FUSCO), T‑185/03, ECR, EU:T:2005:73, paragraph 64, and ASTALOY, cited above, EU:T:2013:160, paragraph 47), the duration of the coexistence also constitutes an essential factor.