MERKENRECHT

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Trademark Definition by the EC Court of
Justice
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NON EU
C O M M U N I T Y T R A D E M A R K (Design)

E U R O P E A N P A T E N T
C O M M U N I T Y P A T E N T
PORT
SPA
IT
FR
BE
NE
LUX
GERM
AUS
FIN
GR
DEN
SWE
ENG
IRE
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Harmonisation and unification of trademark law
in Europe

• Harmonisation of the various national trade mark
  laws

• Introduction of one comprehensive system

• REGULATION 1993

• Directive 1988

Two complementary systems
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(No Transcript)
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Goal 1 unification

• Council Regulation n 40/94 on the Community
  Trademark, 20 December 1993

directly applicable
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Annual report OHIM 1998
even the most optimistic forecasts have been
exceeded

• 1996 - 1998
• /- 102.000 applications
• Statistics August 2002 278.000 (157.370)

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Main features of the CTM

• Autonomy (art. 14.1) ? subject only to
  Regulation
• Uniformity (art. 1.2)? same effect throughout
  the community
• Co-existence? Alternative for national systems

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Goal 2 harmonisation

• First Council directive to approximate the Laws
  of the Member States relating to Trade Marksof
  21 December 1988

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Structure and contents TMD

• Protectable signs (nature of marks)
• Grounds of refusal and cancellation
• Scope of protection (exclusive rights)
• Exhaustion
• Licensees, acquiescense, use, revocation
• Collective and certification marks

'may'
'shall'
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Not regulated in TMD

• (differences in national law)
• Kinds of marks to be registered
• Procedural rules re
• application and registration proceedings
• refusal
• invalidity
• infringement
• Application of other laws

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(No Transcript)
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• Court of Justice
• Court of first Instance

Board of appeal Decision
National Court
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A Mark a Sign

• Article 4 CTM
• A Community trade mark may consist of
• any sign
• capable of being represented graphically
• capable of distinguishing goods/services of one
  undertaking from those of other undertakings

Function of a mark
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"Any sign" art. 4 CTM

• Personal names
• designs
• letters
• numerals
• shape of goods
• packaging of goods

"including"
Art. 2 TMDArt. 15.2 TRIPS
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"Any sign" art. 2 TMD 4 CTM

• VISUALLY

• Clear, precise

Graphic Representation

• Self-contained

• Easily accessible

• Intelligible

• Durable

• Objective

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Word marks, Figurative marks

• Word marks

• Figurative marks

instantly perceived as a sign
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Shape marks
Linde, Winward, Rado 8 April 2003
Philips/Remington 18 June 2002
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Shape marks

• Preliminary obstacle for particular shapes
• (3.1.e TMD 7.1.e CTMR)
• Nature of goods
• Necessary for technical result
• Substantial value to the goods

Afterwards no stricter criteria
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Colour marks

• Combinations of colours art.15 TRIPS
• Element of complex marks
• Single Colour

?
?
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YES NO
Colour marksBenelux
BELGACOM Cass. 22.12.00
LIBERTELCA The Hague 4.06.98
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Libertel
06.052003

• A colour per se is capable if representation
  
• clear
• precise
• self-contained
• easily accessible
• intelligible
• durable
• objective

NO

• YES possibly
• description
• intern. Colour code
• combinations

AND
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Olfactory marks
Case Sieckmann (C.J. 12.12.02)

• C6H5-CHCHCOOCH3(chemical formula)
• Description? 'fruity balsamic smell with a light
  note of cinnamon'
• Deposit of sample
• Combination

graphical representation scent marks?
"Requirement ofgraphic representabilityis NOT
satisfied by
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Sound marks
Shield Mark v. Joost Kist (C.J. ???)

• 'kukelekuuuuu'
• "the crow of a rooster"

• "The first 9 notes of Für Elise"
• "The consecutive notes e, dis, e, dis, e,b,d,c,a"

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ANY SIGN gt 2 questions
?
?
Any sign capable of graphical representation
Protectability requirements
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Protectability requirements
SIGN
Distinctivecharacter
Not prohibited
Available
in each and every EU country ...
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Protectability requirements
SIGN
Distinctivecharacter
Not prohibited
Available
relative
absolute
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Distinctive NOT

• art. 7 (1) (b) devoid of any distinctive
  character
• art. 7 (1) (c) descriptive
• descriptive of the essential characteristics of
  the goods/services
• art. 7 (1) (d) generic
• consists in the usual description of the specific
  goods/services

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Distinctive

• identifying the undertaking
• essential function of any trademark

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No exclusion per se
The test is CONCRETE

• Case law exclusion Need to leave free
  (Freihaltebedürfnis) ?
• As a matter of principle NO
• Public interest concrete YES
• Legal text exclusion?
• 3.1.a TMD or 7.1.a CTMR as a preliminary abstract
  exclusion NO
• 3.1.e TMD or 7.1.e CTMR YES

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Assessment of distinctive character

• Word marks
• 3D marks (shapes)
• Colour marks

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Court of Justice 20.09.01 any perceptible
difference
Distinctive character word marks
WORD COMBINATIONS

• Baby-dry

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Court of Justice 19.09.02 an additional
characteristic is needed
Distinctive character word marks
WORD COMBINATIONS
"Companyline"
Application of art. 7.1.b"devoid of any
distinctive character"
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Distinctive character 3 D marks

• Exclusion grounds for shapes constitute a
  preliminary obstacle
• Assessment of distinctiveness
• no stricter criteria than for other signsBUT
• in practice may be more difficult to establish

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Distinctive character colours

• Court of Justice Libertel (6 May 2003)
• Yes (if no prior use) only in exceptional
  circumstances
• Particularly where
• number of goods or services very restricted
  AND
• relevant market very specific

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Arigato Gozaimasu