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United Kingdom Intellectual Property Office Decisions
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AROMACOLOGY (Trade Mark: Invalidity) [2005] UKIntelP o22905 (16 August 2005)
URL: http://www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKIntelP/2005/o22905.html
Cite as:
[2005] UKIntelP o22905
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AROMACOLOGY (Trade Mark: Invalidity) [2005] UKIntelP o22905 (16 August 2005)
For the whole decision click here: o22905
Trade mark decision
- BL Number
- O/229/05
- Decision date
- 16 August 2005
- Hearing officer
- Mr M Reynolds
- Mark
- AROMACOLOGY
- Classes
- 03
- Applicant
- Opponent
- Opposition
Result
Application for a declaration of invalidity, Section 47(1) (citing Sections 3(1)(b) & 3(1)(c)): - Successful.
Points Of Interest
-
1. Words newly coined: "Even if it qualified as a neologism at the time it was first used, it had by the relevant date fallen into use as the name of a new science ……".
Summary
The applicant claimed that the word AROMACOLOGY was a purely descriptive term, coined as a name for the science of aromas. The registered proprietor denied this and also claimed that the term had acquired a distinctive character as a result of the use made of it. In order to determine this the Hearing Officer had to sift a mass of evidence but in the result he concluded that the word was descriptive; its registrations should have been prevented by the terms of Section 3(1)(c); it had not acquired a distinctive character as indicating the registered proprietor's goods.
The application for a declaration of invalidity succeeded accordingly.