Windsurfing Chiemsee v Boots – und Segelzubehor Walter Huber, C-108/97, and C109/97
Citation: Windsurfing Chiemsee v Boots – und Segelzubehor Walter Huber, C-108/97, and C109/97
Rule of thumb: IF a trade mark application is too vague, can it be rejected? Yes, as a general rule, there must be some sort of distinctive feature for a trade mark to be able to be registered.
Judgment:
Trade mark law intends to prevent people from registering words or shapes that are too general so that everyone is able to use them, ‘... the directive pursues an aim which is in the public interest, namely that descriptive signs or indications relating to the categories of goods or services in respect of which registration is applied for may be freely used by all ... therefore prevents such signs and indications from being reserved to one undertaking alone because they have been registered as trade marks’, paragraph 25
Warning: This is not professional legal advice. This is not professional legal education advice. Please obtain professional guidance before embarking on any legal course of action. This is just an interpretation of a Judgment by persons of legal insight & varying levels of legal specialism, experience & expertise. Please read the Judgment yourself and form your own interpretation of it with professional assistance.