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Aug 17, 2016
Imogen Fowler, Hogan Lovells, Alicante, Spain
Sam Gylling, Hogan Lovells, Alicante, Spain
First published on Lime Green IP, www.limegreenipnews.com

Chocolate Packaging: European General Court confirms th...


Imogen Fowler, Hogan Lovells, Alicante, Spain, Sam Gylling, Hogan Lovells, Alicante, Spain, First published on Lime Green IP, www.limegreenipnews.comIn 2013, August Storck KG filed an International Registration designating the European Union to protect a packaging design as a trade mark. The application covered "confectionery, chocolate, chocolate products, pastries, ice-cream, preparations for making the aforementioned products" in class 30. The General Court confirmed the EUIPO's finding that such packaging design is insufficient to identify the origin of the goods and that it was therefore not capable of registration based on lack of distinctive character according to Article 7(1)(b) of Regulation No 207/2009 (the EUTMR). According to the applicant, the EUIPO wrongly assumed that the mark applied for was a three-dimensional mark and not a figurative mark. The applicant also claimed that colours are generally of great importance in the confectionery sector and that the image featured on the packaging represents snow-covered hills against a blue sky which endows the packaging with distinctive character. The applicant also argued that the average consumers of confectionery and read more