The Bottle is the Message: Only the Distinctive Survive as 3-D Community Mark

10(1) JOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW AND PRACTICE 35-42 (2015).

13 Pages Posted: 18 Feb 2015 Last revised: 19 Apr 2016

See all articles by Danny Friedmann

Danny Friedmann

Peking University School of Transnational Law

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: November 6, 2014

Abstract

This article explores the distinctiveness criterion, the absolute refusal ground for the registration of three-dimensional community marks, for bottles.

The office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (OHIM), the OHIM Boards of Appeal (BoA) and the General Court (GC) insist that three-dimensional community marks are treated as any other mark in the assessment process.

However, statistics demonstrate the opposite, which has arguably led to an underutilization by business of the three-dimensional community mark. Are the criteria applied by OHIM transparent and predictable? Which pattern, if any, can be abstracted from the assessments on distinctiveness of bottles?

Keywords: community trade mark, three-dimensional trademark, 3D trademark, shape mark, OHIM

JEL Classification: Q34

Suggested Citation

Friedmann, Danny, The Bottle is the Message: Only the Distinctive Survive as 3-D Community Mark (November 6, 2014). 10(1) JOURNAL OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW AND PRACTICE 35-42 (2015). , Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2565814

Danny Friedmann (Contact Author)

Peking University School of Transnational Law ( email )

Peking Univ. Shenzhen Campus
University Town, Xili, Nanshan District
Shenzhen, 518055
China

HOME PAGE: http://stl.pku.edu.cn/faculty-2/danny-friedmann/

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