“BSA/DSA”

• a) The principle that similarity of signs establishing a risk of confusion cannot be assumed merely due to a similarity in a component not eligible for protection is not readily and unrestrictedly transferable to a situation in which the ineligible component which could potentially give rise to a conflict is contained not in the petitioning or opposing trade mark, but in the contested trade mark.

• b) A component of a contested combined mark that is not eligible for protection can have a distinctive and thus conflict-establishing effect if this component, though recognised by the public as descriptive, is perceived as the dominant element due to its special graphic presentation because other, eligible components are lacking in the combined mark.