In Case T- 648/13, IOIP Holdings LLC applied for “GLISTEN” for the following goods in Class 3:

‘Cleaning preparations for dishwashers; cleaning preparations for washing machines; cleaning preparations for hot tubs and jetted bathtubs; cleaning preparations for microwave ovens; cleaning, freshening, deodorant and disinfectant preparations for garbage disposals’.

Both OHIM and the General Court rejected the application. The English word ‘glisten’ means ‘to shine by reflecting light from a wet, oily or smooth surface’ and therefore it informs consumers, without further reflection, of the purpose of the goods covered by the mark applied for. By reason of its descriptive character, the mark applied for is, it found, necessarily devoid of distinctive character. Upon seeing the word ‘glisten’ associated with the various cleaning products covered by the mark applied for, the relevant public will understand that those cleaning products will be used to make the cleaned objects, such as dishwashers and microwave ovens, shine.

 The applicant invoked the registration of the word mark ‘glisten’ as a trade mark by the United States Patent and Trade Mark Office (USPTO) for goods precisely identical to those at issue in the present case. Suffice it to point out, in this regard, that the Community trade mark regime is an autonomous system with its own set of objectives and rules peculiar to it; it applies independently of any national system.