2019 years 12 month 18 day, Turkish court of appeal (Turkish Court of Cassation) on "CHESTERFIELD BLUE LINE" The trademark registration case was made in favor of the district court (District Court) judgment.

　　before, There is a company (applicant) for "CHESTERFIELD BLUE LINE" The logo filed an application for trademark registration, Apply to 34 Goods under the class. subsequently, Another company (dissenter) By virtue of its registered trademark "BLUE LINE" (Apply to 34 Goods under the class) Filed an objection to the above trademark application. Turkey's Patent and Trademark Office accepted the objection, And dismissed "CHESTERFIELD BLUE LINE" Application for registration of the logo. The applicant challenged the decision of the Turkish Patent and Trademark Office to a Turkish court (Court of first instance) Filed a lawsuit, Court determination "CHESTERFIELD BLUE LINE" Mark sum "BLUE LINE" There can be no confusion between trademarks.

　　The dissenter's action in the district court was dismissed

　　The dissenter appealed to the district court, But it was overruled. The District court stated in its decision, although "BLUE LINE" A trademark is protected because it has been registered, But a person who registers a less distinctive word as a trademark must suffer an objection being overruled. "BLUE LINE" Trademark alignment 34 Tobacco and tobacco products under the category have lower significance, while "BLUE LINE" The word is preceded by "CHESTERFIELD" Be enough to "CHESTERFIELD BLUE LINE" Mark and "BLUE LINE" Trademark differentiation.

　　From the point of view of the general public, The above two signs are unlikely to cause confusion. Turkey's appeals court upheld the district court's decision, It also points out that the trademark with descriptive words is weak (weak trade mark) , Cannot obtain the same level of protection as a trademark with higher distinctiveness. Even small differences can make these trademarks, which are made up of weak trademarks and other elements, unique, The owner of a weak mark cannot challenge the registration of his mark with other different elements.

　　The Turkish appeals court ruled in line with the EU decision

　　The Turkish appeals court's ruling is in line with decisions by the European Court of Justice and the EU Intellectual Property Office, That is, relatively little protection must be provided for weak trademarks. When assessing the likelihood of confusion between two signs containing the same low significance phrase, It depends, Consider non-common elements (non-common elements) The effect on similarity.

(Compiled from www. marques. org) 　　

Reprinted from China Intellectual Property Network   translation: Li Yanqiu　proofread: Liu Peng

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