Lund University Master of European Affairs programme, Law Master Thesis Special Trade Marks — Legislation And The Situation In The European Community By Nguyen Nhu Quynh —————————————— THUVIEN | TRƯƠNG ĐẠI HỌC LUAT RA NO}: ` | Supervisor = see ido & PHONG GV _£ i Ass. Professor Hans Henrik Lidgard Field Intellectual Property Rights Law Spring 2002 Contents SAD sevauotutssrsa-.-Y2 3 oH SRAM err TT SAREE menseleatstastons 1 Fg er ita IDR AI «<< cu nmi pede te 3 enc sma rman pe tandaoete 2 Fils lay TAL GifRiurresnannonnhddiôpad awa TT: « ta omens naten.xs dee palenminmenkica denied halaauel 3 ooo i ee a tui tamfssnf§kofpsriberirissrtin 4 2. International Conventions Affecting Trade Marks. 6 Zu, Pape L DIUHXIGITN TH: cies.
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0 (0/1/07 (ïÔD 19 Shick) BAD) TT ÔNG TU Vi TU Porto mcltek MÔƠN Se N ot, AA ib ascension sedge Rea Y 19 5.1 Statutory Provisions and Registration Situation.2 The Exceptions From Registering for 3D Mark under Art. 20 TJS) ascusadie thos iddhp naa acer angsdarsammpeane anes | bide Eria.3 Lego Case and The Debate Surrounding Functionality, Necessity and Distinctiveness Of 3D Mathis wcccsscorse: 224 sam crwenemummenns 6à 5 S 59151504344 earanewen 22 5.14 ISS0G OF CONGUITEHE POLE CUION .ieriwvesnncteteawsa rn 1+ oe ox eawymermnnedvenns surrey 23 Solcỡ INGER CHHẾI|NESDDIaksas6 L6/822162d Cai bi 02 424s cacaageverttosagfliaks i65 00S 24 DAZ GalOule Mable eb ctwcses ich alesis s Soteiiasd nh ga D0 yiÊt2 3š bsui,4s2A Su700 su ba cays usin: 24 5.] Statutory Provisions and Registration Situaftion.2 The Debate Surrounding The Protection for Colour Mark per se. Báo etek, TAY DÌ|Gồ| ffrngaaenorbi san T11 148 CHÒOTHu-NđtAxetrrili4 0000/1600 ndndicgiu3/0nnnEENE 25 Saws Lie TINH] THDfy ‹ ves temendeommcgmenn 6023 etd đ8idngmtftoigitgtibbiliddtihhgbibfuiaos SHED: 27 5.3 Requirements on Registration of Colour Mark per se. 28 S24 TET COME HISHÖÏT.
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The European Community legal instruments on trade marks as well as the main contents of the Community trade mark are addressed in Chapter 3. The author hopes that readers will obtain an overview of the Community trade mark situation after reading this chapter. Chapter 4 deals with the doctrine of functionality that is crucial in determining the requirement of distinctiveness for trade marks. The doctrine is also relevant to any discussion about the protection of special marks.
The most important part of the thesis is discussed in Chapter 5. This chapter seeks reasonable answers to questions relating to special marks, e. what is the borderline between protectable and unprotectable special marks, what are solutions to the controversial! issues of specific unusual marks. Finally, Chapter 6 summarises remarks drawn from previous Chapters.
Preface Trade marks have become a key factor in the modern world of international trade and market-oriented economies and have been and will remain increasingly important to the success ofa wide range of businesses. A trade mark is an item of property that can be extremely valuable to its owner. It is the principal means of product recognition. It facilitates repeated purchases by satisfied customers.
Wisely chosen, properly protected, and carefully used, a trade mark can, over time, become an asset of huge importance, ensuring significant returns on the original marketing and advertising investments. Together with the usual or traditional marks such as word and device marks, unusual marks such as 3D, colour, sound, and smell marks have also fulfilled these roles. These special marks, however, have been faced with many difficulties from both the legal and the practical side. Some of them have not even survived such controversy.
Therefore, studying special marks is an interesting topic which has both legal and practical significance. On this occasion, I would like very much to thank my supervisor, Professor Hans Henrik Lidgard, who suggested I take on this interesting subject and also gave me valuable comments and support. Assistant AG Advocate General BCJ Benelux Court ofJustice CFI Court of First Instance EC European Community ECJ European Court of Justice Co. Corporation CTM Community Trade mark(s) CTMR Community Trade mark Regulation e.
For example EU European Union GATT General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade Ibid. Ibiden INTA International Trademark Association IR Implementing Regulation IPR Intellectual Property Right(s) No. Numbers OHIM Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade marks and designs) OJ Official Journal para. Paragraph(s) Page pp.
Pages TRIPs Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property UK United Kingdom US United State of America USPQ United States Patent Quarterly USPQ 2d United States Patent Quarterly second series WIPO World Intellectual Property Organisation WTO World Trade Organisation Versus 3D Three-dimensional 1. Introduction Until quite recently, the means of identifying one trader’s products from those of another would be a word mark and perhaps also an accompanying device mark. This tradition has been overturned by recent changes in marketing and advertising practices. Nowadays, in order to maintain his market position, a trader often has to have, in addition to the traditional word and device marks, packaging with distinctive design in terms of colour and, if possible, shape, a slogan that appears both with the product and separately from it, and an advertising jingle or tune that, when heard, will immediately bring the product to mind.
Even fragrances are also used to indicate their products. The development ofthese new practices has led to a recognition, both by the public and by most trade mark authorities, that a trade mark can now take many different forms. These special marks such as shape, colour, sound, smell, slogan, and certain others have appeared and now exist together with traditional marks. In my country, Vietnam, trade marks have already proved their crucial importance.
Vietnam became a member of the Paris Convention and the Madrid Agreement in 1949. Vietnamese trade mark legislation has been in conformity with these conventions. Vietnamese trade marks are mainly governed by the Civil Code! and the Decree No. Accordingly, signs can be registered as trade marks provided broadly that are signs capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one trader from these of other traders.
A trade mark may appear in the form of words, letters, pictures, or their combination in one or many colours’. Shapes that are not simple and not geometrical may be registered as trade marks". It is clear that the Vietnamese trade mark legislation permits one to register any sign that is capable of distinguishing. Notably, colour and shape marks are included in the legal texts.
Regretfully, in practice, the Vietnamese Industrial Property Office has just allowed 3D marks to be registered. With this thesis I have a good opportunity to compare the legal and practical issues relating EC law on trade marks in general and special marks in particular with those of my country. It, of course, also helps me to find out reasonable answers to problems raised by these issues. This thesis focuses on the legal and practical concerns surrounding special marks in the EC.
The aim is to answer a series of controversial questions relating to special marks including why they are recognised or objected to, what has happened to them recently, what are outstanding issues and what are their solutions, what is the dividing line between registrable special marks and unregistrable ones, and what the future of special marks is. The legislation and reality in the EC are the main references for answers of these questions. Some international and US considerations, however, are also discussed in this thesis. IPR, in general, and trade marks, in particular, are non- border subjects.
Further, the US is the historical leader in this field with the first ' Civil Code of the National Assembly, 28/10/1995.63 of the Government, 24/10/1996 detailing the regulations on industrial property. The provisions on trade marks can also found in legal documents of the other concerned State authorities, for example the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment, Ministry of Trade. registrations for special marks and is also the origin of important doctrines concerning trade marks such as the doctrine of functionality, that will be discussed in this work. Concerning the situation in particular EC Member States, the UK is referred to most frequently since it has been considered as the most diligent in protecting special marks.
Work on this thesis has been performed via descriptive, analysis, comparative, and synthetic methods. The materials have been gathered mainly from legal journals, and many ofthe sources are electronic.