66Having regard to the foregoing, the answer to the second and third questions is that Article 103(2)(b) of Regulation No 1308/2013 must be interpreted as meaning that the ‘evocation’ referred to in that provision, first, does not require, as a prior condition, that the product protected by a PDO and the product or service covered by the sign at issue are identical or similar and, secondly, is established where the use of a name creates a sufficiently clear and direct link between that name and the PDO in the mind of an average European consumer who is reasonably well informed and reasonably observant and circumspect. The existence of such a link may arise from several factors, in particular the partial incorporation of the protected designation, the phonetic and visual resemblance of the two names and the resulting similarity, and, even in the absence of those factors, the conceptual proximity between the PDO and the name at issue or the similarity between the products covered by that PDO and the products or services covered by that name. In making that assessment, it is for the referring court to take account of all the relevant factors surrounding the use of the name in question.
Source: EUR-Lex, © European Union, 1998-2026. Reuse authorised under Decision 2011/833/EU.