Many businesses often use cities, state (Orbon) And the names of countries to refer to their goods and services, Take the famous British Airways for example (British Airways) , New York Times (The New York Times) , India Gate (India Gate) Etc. Due to the city, state (Orbon) And the name of the country cannot be monopolized, So one can't help but ask, Whether a trademark containing a geographical name can be used to indicate that goods or services originate from a particular region (Such as geographical indication) , And for this reason cannot be monopolized.

Courts often make the following observations, That is, no one can monopolize in the form of a trademark those used to designate a certain place, The geographical terms and vocabulary of a country or part of a country. however, For those that are not used in "geographically" Designation of origin is a geographical designation used to specify the source or ownership in an arbitrary or inventive manner, So where exactly is it referring to, It can be a valid trademark. The differences are explained in detail below.

Law and practice

Indian "Trademark law" specify, A mark consisting solely of a mark or sign which specifies the geographical origin of the goods is not registrable. In addition, The statute also provides, When a third party uses the name of a place in good faith in the form of a trademark, The owner of a registered trademark may not assert his rights thereon. meanwhile, According to the Trademark Application Guide, If a particular location is covered by a trademark and an applied trademark／Or the geographical origin of the service does not exist any connection, Then people can register the name of the place.

therefore, It is obvious that, Both in regulation and in daily practice, There is no outright ban on people using geographical terms in their trademarks. merely, To determine whether a trademark will not be able to be registered due to the use of a geographical name, One should determine whether the mark consists entirely of geographical terms, And whether the trademark can be used by other traders to describe their goods and products／Or the characteristics of the service.

In some cases, The trademark Registration Authority of India is in the city of the trademark owner, weeks (Orbon) And the country name has taken a supportive stance when filing trademark registration applications for some completely unrelated goods or services, For example, for ready-to-wear "CAMBRIDGE (Cambridge) " , Applicable to wires and cables "MONACO (Monaco) " And for underwear "BALI (Bali) " Etc. however, At some point, The registry did not adopt a statutory test method, And rejected a part of the legal standards of trademark registration applications.

In the landmark ABU Dhabi global Market (Abu Dhabi Global Market) Sue the Registrar of Trademarks, Delhi (Registrar of Trade Marks) In the case, Because ABU Dhabi is a place name, It is also the capital of the United Arab Emirates, As a result, the Delhi Trademark Registrar initially considered the logo as a whole to be lacking in distinctiveness, And therefore cannot be monopolized. merely. The Delhi High Court subsequently challenged that conclusion.

Plaintiff says, The registry recognizes ABU Dhabi as a place name, It is also the most prominent part of the trademark applied for registration, This view is simply wrong. In fact, The plaintiff has submitted relevant evidence to the Registry and the Delhi High Court, Indicating that they were used with the full knowledge of the UAE government.

While expressing its disagreement with the Registry's conclusions, The Delhi High Court noted, The relevant regulations only prohibit people from registering trademarks that consist of words that specifically specify the geographical origin of a place. therefore, Composite trademarks do not actually fall into this category. Even though some of these trademarks are made up of indicative words, The same is true. The trademark at issue in this case is a composite trademark, It will "Abu Dhabi (ABU Dhabi) " "GLOBAL (global) " and "MARKET (marketplace) " The words etc are combined with the corresponding logo, Therefore, the relevant authorities cannot reject the application for registration of this trademark. In addition, The court is disputing the registry's claim "ABU Dhabi forms a major part of the trademark" This argument also points out, This kind of "Main part" The view is inconsistent with the significance test standards stipulated by the relevant regulations. therefore, The court decided to refer the application back to the Registry, And require the latter in "Trademark bulletin" Make public on.

peroration

However, the way in which Indian registries adjudicate cases involving geographical names remains vague, However, the court has further clarified the legal parameters that can be used to determine the registrability of such marks.

In order to ensure that the registration can be completed smoothly, People need to first prove that the geographical name used in their trademark has no connection with the goods that others are applying for protection against. In other words, The owner of the trademark must prove that the place name is so unique, So that no trader will use the name for the goods and services they apply for, And the use of the trademark will not lead consumers to believe that the said goods and services originate from that geographical location. besides, When registering a geographic name, The second meaning and the salience gained are also extremely important.

Stakeholders can rest assured, If the mark is sufficiently distinctive and complies with the terms of the relevant legislation, It is easy to obtain a registered trademark containing a geographical name in the jurisdiction of India. (Be compiled fromwww. mondaq. com)

TRANSLATORS: Liu Peng　proofread: Wu Xian



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