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

63 GRUR INT 1195 (December 2014).

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

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Date Written: December 1, 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: three-dimensional community trademarks, OHIM, CJEU, shape trademarks, bottles, 3-D community marks

JEL Classification: Q34

Suggested Citation

Friedmann, Danny, The Bottle is the Message: Only the Distinctive Survive as 3-D Community Mark (December 1, 2014). 63 GRUR INT 1195 (December 2014)., Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2565817

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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