EU emblem saved by the Patent Office

A Russian applicant filed a trade mark application on January 18 2010, in Classes 35 and 36, for a blue oval with 10 stars along the periphery and word elements Coast Line (stylised) and Real Estate in European Countries (in Cyrillics).

The Russian Patent and Trademark Office rejected the application. The examiner pointed out that the words Real Estate in European Countries are not protectable because they indicate the services given in the application and the place where the services are rendered. The figurative element is confusingly similar to the official emblem of a European body (The European Council).

While examining the case the Chamber of Patent Disputes of the Russian PTO based its reasoning on the requirements of Article 6-ter (1, a and b) according to which the contracting parties agreed to reject or recognise invalid registrations and forbid the use of designations reproducing flags and coats of arms used without permission of the competent bodies of the countries. The same approach is taken in cases of attempted use of emblems or confusingly similar designations belonging to several countries.

The Chamber of Patent Disputes compared the claimed designation with the emblem of the European Council (opposite) and noted that the claimed designation includes a circle or oval of 10 pointed yellow stars not touching each other against a blue background that is confusingly similar to the Council emblem, because despite certain differences they may be associated one with another. In fact the designations consist of the same pointed stars with the same orientation. Their mutual disposition is the same (they are disposed along the circle).

There are word elements in the claimed designation which break the continuity of the image in two parts, but this imitation of disruption of the continuity of the figurative element (the circle of stars) does not lead to a perception of the element as consisting of two parts. Conversely, the word element in the designation (Real Estate in European Countries) leads to a perception of this starry element as being definitely the image of the EU.

Similarity is also emphasised by the same color representation — yellow stars against a blue background. There is some difference in the number of the stars (10 in the claimed designation and 11 in the Emblem of the European Council) but this difference is insignificant.

These considerations lead to the conclusion that the claimed designation is confusingly similar to the symbol of an international intergovernmental organization, which makes it impossible to allow registration. In addition, the Chamber of Patent Disputes argued that the applicant did not submit a document which would show consent of the relevant competent body (the European Council) for the inclusion of the figurative element as a non-protectable element.