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Class 46 - for your European trade mark news
 

Now in its sixth year, Class 46  is dedicated to European trade mark law and practice.  This weblog is written by a team of enthusiasts who want to spread the word and share their thoughts with others.
 
  THURSDAY, 19 NOVEMBER 2009
CFI to applicant: Dude, you can drink cannabis, too

A Swiss individual registered the word CANNABIS as CTM for beer, wine, spirits and other alcoholic beverages. A German brewery filed for cancellation, and the Cancellation Division cancelled the mark. Both the 2nd Board of Appeal as well as the CFI dismissed the appeals against the decision:

29      Against that background, it must be ascertained whether the average consumer, who is reasonably well informed and reasonably observant and circumspect, may think, merely on seeing a beverage which bears as a trade mark the word sign CANNABIS, and no other additional element, that the mark at issue constitutes a description of the characteristics of the goods in question.

30      In that regard, it must be pointed out that, as is apparent from paragraphs 27, 29 and 30 of the contested decision, there is a material link between the sign CANNABIS and certain characteristics of the abovementioned goods. As is apparent from the documents submitted by OHIM and the intervener, cannabis is habitually used in the manufacture of numerous foodstuffs, including beer and certain beverages. It is apparent from the same documents that some beers consisting of cannabis are currently present on the European foodstuffs market.

31      Furthermore, the word ‘cannabis’ is a Latin scientific term which is well known, first, in a number of European Community languages, as is apparent from paragraph 24 of the contested decision and as the applicant himself demonstrates in the application, and, secondly, to the general public as a result of media coverage, rendering it comprehensible to the target consumer throughout the Community (see, to that effect and by analogy, Case C-421/04 Matratzen Concord [2006] ECR I-2303, paragraph 32).

32      Those circumstances explain why, when he sees an alcoholic beverage or a beer bearing the trade mark CANNABIS, the average Community consumer will immediately perceive, without further thought, a description of the characteristics of the goods in question, in particular of cannabis, which is one of the ingredients which may be used as a flavouring in the manufacture thereof.

"Hanf-Bier" (hemp beer) was actually quite popular in Switzerland some years ago. No hopes of getting high from it, though - food laws prohibit the use of THC containing hemp to produce food stuffs (a hint to readers who would like to taste it: store the bottle horizontally; if kept upright, the hemp flavour collects at the bottom and the last sip tastes like bong-water. Not that I would know what bong-water tastes like, of course).

T‑234/06

Posted by: Mark Schweizer @ 13.28 
Tags: CFI, absolute grounds for refusal, ,

 

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Birgit Clark
Edith Van den Eede
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Markku Tuominen
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The Class 46 archive


+ 2013
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- 2009
     + December (44)
     - November (55)
Breaking news: eBay fined €1.7 million for failure to block luxury brand sales
Scope of protection of a protected designation of origin
Now mustard and chestnuts secure PGI protection
German Federal Patent Court: “Bollywood macht glücklich!” (tr: Bollywood makes you happy!).
Poland: new Chairman of the Polish Chamber of Patent Attorneys
Bud court asks ECJ: what is "acquiesced"?
New UK rules protect 'Scotch Whisky' appellation
Austria: 900,000th .at-domain registered
Get ready for the .eu IDN landrush on 9 December, midnight!
Manifest inadmissibility of reference for preliminary ruling
Poland: display dates directly
Spain - Rock band name, under dispute.
New proposed cancellation action for non-use in Switzerland
Russia: update on the registration of Cyrillic domain names
Spain – Supreme Court on slogan trade marks: no need of a special treatment (if anyone still doubted).
Proposed legislation on the use of "Swiss made"
Germany: Otto buys Quelle trade marks
Recent publications
McDonald's goes green - literally
Champagne house defends its right to CRISTAL in Russia
Pirate Bay battles to assert IP rights in its logo
New regime for Portuguese fees now in force
Free Trade Agreement EU- South Korea : For the first time in a Bilateral Agreement between the EU and a Third Country, the EU provides for the Protection of European GIs for Agricultural Products and Foodstuffs.
'Summer Skin' No Trade Mark Rules Belgian Supreme Court
Trade mark portfolio management software: market survey
CLEARWIFI – the meaning is too clear to be registered
More news from the OHIM: "CTM Bulletin goes daily"
CFI to applicant: Dude, you can drink cannabis, too
New forms and helpful English language documents now available on DPMA's website
OHIM: Latest Issue of Alicante News
Poland: Gazeta wants to free Winnie the Pooh
Spain – the mysteries of absolute grounds for refusal NOW REVEALED.
CFI: THINKING AHEAD is not allowed
It's nice to have a guaranteed monopoly
New search tool by OHIM and participating offices
German Federal Patent Court: "Tortellini" and "Ravioli" non-distinctive for sweets
Three more PGI regulations in force
No peace for UNOX in Switzerland
Poland: can real food serve as a trade mark?
Italy tightens up regulations on use of MADE IN ITALY
Driving instructor with brand identity and humour
Third-party observations: new OHIM practice statement
Competition group to discuss implications of L'Oréal v Bellure
PGI status for Riso del Delta del Po
Firecraft dispute: registry decision leads to High Court estoppel
La Bella della Daunia: PDO changes approved
Beatles' records on an apple-shaped USB-stick - do I sense a little provocation?
Italian law amends Italian IP Code and reinforces protection to IP right holders under Italian Criminal Code.
Adwords: the questions passed to the ECJ in Interflora vs M&S
Poland: jailtime for selling fake croissants
BOOHOO! Interim relief includes disabling of domain name
Finland: 2009 in Counterfeits
OHIM to launch a products/services similarity database in 2010
Russia: Cyrillic domain names - the new way forward
ICANN aproves internationalized Top Level Domains - trade mark owners get ready for the landrush
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