The Finnish Trade Mark Office in 5 May 2010 registered the trade mark VALIO KEITTOKIRJA (no. 260942) on behalf of Valio Oy in Classes 35, 38, 41 and 43 but rejected it for goods in Class 16 as far as printed matter was concerned, since the word “keittokirja” means “cookery book” in the Finnish language. The word “valio” in Finnish language means the best individual in a selected group, species or such. The Office stated that this mark lacked distinctiveness in Class 16 as it referred to the type of goods and the quality of the goods concerned. According to the Office, the trade mark VALIO KEITTOKIRJA would merely mean “the best cookery book”. The applicant submitted proof of use in the matter in order to prove that the word VALIO would have become distinctive through use in Class 16 for printed matter. The Office stated however that the proof was insufficient to show distinctiveness for the word VALIO in class 16, adding that the word VALIO was not accepted to the List of Trade Marks with Reputation maintained by the Trade Mark Office.

The Board of Appeal of the Finnish Trade Mark Office dismissed the appeal on 25 March 2013. There was further correspondence between the Office and the applicant, following which the applicant narrowed down the list of goods with regard to Class 16 to cover only “printed matter related to foodstuffs”. Despite this restriction, the Office kept its mind in the matter and held that the trade mark VALIO KEITTOKIRJA described the type and quality of the goods concerned. In addition the Office stated that the average consumer understands the mark as consisting of the adjective “valio” (best of its kind) that defines the product “keittokirja” (cookery book).

The Supreme Administrative Court of Finland has now dismissed the applicant's appeal, affirming the decisions of the Finnish Trade Mark Office. In the proceedings the applicant had submitted to the Supreme Administrative Court copies of its food magazines and brochures starting from year 1991. However, the use of the trade mark VALIO was presented in this material only in connection with combination marks. The material did not thus show that the mark VALIO would have become distinctive through use for printed matter so that the trade mark VALIO KEITTOKIRJA would – on basis of the material – be a distinctive trade mark for these goods.

This item has been kindly prepared for Class 46 by Tiina Komppa (Roschier, Finland)