Now in its twelfth 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.
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Greece: Is EASY distinctive for coffee and tea?
Apparently very well so, thinks the Greek TM Office. Unfortunately, however, for the owner of the recent TM application below left in Class 30 for coffee, tea and various relevant goods, someone had gotten there first. The earlier mark is the stylized word mark "EASY" (below right) for essentially identical goods, which was filed and accepted back in 2004.
Accordingly, the competent Examiner rejected the application on relative grounds of refusal. The owner of the rejected mark may still file a recourse action with the Trademarks Administrative Committee.
Absolute grounds aside, this blogger would still think it is not EASY to actually protect EASY for Class 30 goods (or any other goods or services), but, then again, he has been wrong before.
It may also be worth noting that the GR TM Office has generally received well TM applications for slogan marks, word or stylized, incorporating "EASY", such as QUICK & EASY in Class 2, NICE N EASY in Class 3, EASY AND SIMPLE in Class 16 or TAKE IT EASY in Class 35, 38 and 41. But, don't get too excited; the GR TM Office's practice on slogans is not always consistent.
Posted by: Nikos Prentoulis @ 01.52Tags: Greece, Greek TM Office, EASY, relative grounds for refusal, likelihood of confusion, absolute grounds for refusal, distinctiveness,
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