In a Judgment dated January 25, 2010 (cassational appeal no.1007/2009), and overturning prior decisions of the lower Court and the Spanish Patents and Trade Marks Office, the Supreme Court has awarded the appeal filed by the Municipality of Tarragona and has refused the Spanish mark no. 2620427 "MOSTRA TARRAGONA PESCADORA I MARINERA" (my free translation "Fishing and Maritime Tarragona Fair") in classes 16 and 35.
The Court found that the challenged mark infringed article 5.1 g) of the Spanish Trade Mark Act that states:
The following signs may not be registered as a trademark:
(g) those which may mislead the public, for example as to the nature, quality or geographical origin of the good or service;
By applying this absolute ground for refusal to the case, the Court stated that the challenged mark could be "misleading" to the public as it will lead consumers to assume that the Municipality of Tarragona is endorsing the fair, that would represent to be "official", not being the case.
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