This was decided by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) today in the case about the slogan Vorsprung durch Technik, a pay off of Audi. Such slogans were being refused as a trademark, as the general public would not recognize it as a trademark: nice sentence but not a sign to identify from which company the product or service is. The ECJ has now stopped this policy, that has so far been applied by the OHIM and the Benelux Benelux Office for Intellectual Property: "However, it is apparent from the case-law that, while the criteria for the assessment of distinctive character are the same for different categories of marks, it may be that, for the purposes of applying those criteria, the relevant public’s perception is not necessarily the same in relation to each of those categories and it could therefore prove more difficult to establish distinctiveness in relation to marks of certain categories as compared with marks of other categories." Thus slogans can be trademark, as long as such slogan has a number of meanings, or constitutes a play on words, or is perceived as imaginative, surprising and unexpected. The ECJ judgment demanages the importance of the Dutch Slogan Register, that was up to date the only way to protect a slogan. This is highly relevant for the advertising sector and for any company that wants to monopolize its slogan!
Maarten Haak
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office Emerald House Jozef Israëlskade 48-G Amsterdam, the Netherlands t +31 (0)20 - 305 3066 www.hoogenhaak.nl |
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This was decided by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) today in the case about the slogan Vorsprung durch Technik, a pay off of Audi. Such slogans were being refused as a trademark, as the general public would not recognize it as a trademark: nice sentence but not a sign to identify from which company the product or service is. The ECJ has now stopped this policy, that has so far been applied by the OHIM and the Benelux Benelux Office for Intellectual Property: "However, it is apparent from the case-law that, while the criteria for the assessment of distinctive character are the same for different categories of marks, it may be that, for the purposes of applying those criteria, the relevant public’s perception is not necessarily the same in relation to each of those categories and it could therefore prove more difficult to establish distinctiveness in relation to marks of certain categories as compared with marks of other categories." Thus slogans can be trademark, as long as such slogan has a number of meanings, or constitutes a play on words, or is perceived as imaginative, surprising and unexpected. The ECJ judgment demanages the importance of the Dutch Slogan Register, that was up to date the only way to protect a slogan. This is highly relevant for the advertising sector and for any company that wants to monopolize its slogan!
Maarten Haak