Trade mark registration sanctified by a dean

As we get closer to Christmas we receive unexpected gifts from the Chamber of Patent Disputes. Back in October 2010 A Livensk Confectionary (named after a small town of Livny some 400 miles south of Moscow) filed a trade mark application for Christmas Lamb for goods in Class 30.

The examiner refused the registration arguing that Christmas Lamb is a designation with a religious connotation that should be reserved for the church. Registration of the claimed denomination as a trade mark would offend the feelings of believers and contradict moral principles.

The applicant appealed the decision to the Chamber of Patent Disputes, which did not agree with the examiner and recognised the designation. It argued that the word combination Christmas Lamb in respect of goods in Class 30 is a coined expression, though obviously reminiscent of the Lamb of God. This word combination cannot be considered as insulting to believers because it creates associations with Christmas and its traditions. Christmas is a special holiday that people prepare for long in advance. Christmas trees and gifts have been accompanying Christmas festivities for years. Those gifts often include cakes.

According to the documentation, Christmas Lamb is used by the applicant as a name of a cake cooked specifically for Christmas. The cakes are supplied to large chain stores and to churches. They are well known to Russian consumers, to the congregations and to priests. In order to reinforce its position the applicant submitted a letter from the dean of St Sergy Church of Livny, who expressed his consent to the registration of the trade mark Christmas Lamb.

The letter of the dean probably tipped the balance and led the Chamber of Patent Disputes to conclude that the claimed designation would not contradict the public interest.