Luxembourg, 18/02/2000 (Agence Europe) - The European Court of First Instance has just annulled the decision of a Board of Appeal of the European Trade Marks Office, which had refused to allow Procter and Gamble to register a mark consisting of a three-dimensional drawing of a bar of soap. The Board of Appeal was wrong to confirm the refusal by the Trade Marks Office to register the mark, ruled the Court of First Instance. Admittedly, under the 1993 Community regulation on the Community mark, the Office may reject signs made up of the "form imposed by the nature of the product itself". The concave longitudinal shape and grooves that are characteristic of Procter and Gamble soap are not imposed by the nature of the product, explained the Judges, who noted that other forms of soap not having such characteristics exist on the market.
The Office had ruled, on the contrary, that the only characteristic of this mark was its "longitudinal identity" which was not singular enough for the average, reasonably attentive and cautious consumer to identify it as the mark of Procter and Gamble products.
The Office will have to reconsider the American company's registration application.