Luxembourg, 28/06/2005 (Agence Europe) - The words “Turkish Power” are suggestive in a way that is quite independent of the term “power”, as the German public associates these two words with Turkish culture and history and not just the notion of might, the European Court of First Instance said. European judges have had to rule on a dispute between a German firm from Mülheim, the company Plus Warenhandelsgesellschaft, and the Alicante Trade Mark Office. The Office had accepted the request made by two German nationals from Stuttgart, Joachim Bälz and Friedmar Hiller, who hope to register “Turkish Power” as a Community trade mark, the adjective and the noun being separated by the drawing of a roaring lion with thick mane. The market on which the two men operate is that of tobacco and articles for smokers.
The company, Plus Warenhandelsgesellschaft, felt that smokers could be confused between its brand and that of its competitors: the determining element being the word “power” in both cases, and in the case of its rival, the English adjective “Turkish” was only an accessory and the lion's head simply reinforced the meaning of the element “power”, the company said. The Office, on the other hand, felt that “Turkish Power” gave out a different semantic content than that of the word “power”. The Court of First Instance saw the logo of the candidates for the Community brand as “quite a different optical structure” and declared the Office's view was correct.