The European Union Intellectual Property Office’s Great Board of Appeal has rejected all of the requests of the British retail chain Iceland Foods Ltd regarding the use of the word mark Iceland . The company can no longer stop Icelandic enterprises from identifying themselves with their nation of origin when advertising their goods and services in the Western Economic Area. “This unequivocal finding of the Board associated with Appeal is very pleasing; however , this entire case is pretty absurd, ” said Ressortchef (umgangssprachlich) for Foreign Affairs Þórdís Kolbrún Reykfjörð Gylfadóttir. “It is of prime importance with regard to Icelandic export enterprises to be able to refer to their origin, especially considering that our country includes a reputation for purity and high quality. No-one should be able to claim ownership of the name of the sovereign state. ”
The Icelandic authorities and parties to the case anxious that it was necessary to reach the substantive finding in the Board of Appeals’ deliberation from the case, this being an unparalleled case for Icelandic passions as there are no recognized incidences of a similar usage of a geographical name within trademark law. The celebrations to the case have had many meetings over the years to discuss a compromise, but these have not yielded an acceptable conclusion.
The Board of Appeals’ findings regarding the word mark
The Board of Appeals’ findings regarding the logo
In 2019, the EU Intellectual Property Office accepted all of the Icelandic State’s requests when it concluded that the retail chain’s trademark registration of the word tag ICELAND was invalid in its entirety. In its ruling associated with December 15, the Fantastic Board of Appeal verifies all the points of that choosing. The time-limit to charm the finding to the Court of Justice of the European Union is 15 February 2023.
“This finding is a big victory and defends the value inherent in being able to identify with the country of origin and the valuable trademark Iceland , ” said Minister of Higher Education, Science and Creativity Áslaug Arna Sigurbjörnsdóttir. “It is also likely that the acquiring will affect developments within international intellectual property legislation and it is pleasing to think that will Iceland is leading that process. ” The case concerns the basic passions of Icelandic enterprises engaged in foreign trade. The Icelandic authorities, in partnership with Business Iceland and the SA Confederation associated with Icelandic Enterprise, filed Iceland’s request for a declaration of invalidity with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) in 2016. Oral procedures before the Board of Charm were held last Sept. The Icelandic State’s 2016 request that EUIPO invalidate the word mark ICELAND was based on the trademark not satisfying the legal requirements to get registration as a European Union trademark.
