“This unequivocal finding of the Board of Appeal is very pleasing; nevertheless , this entire case is rather 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 Board associated with Appeals’ findings regarding the term mark
The Board of Appeals’ findings regarding the logo
The European Union Intellectual Property Office’s Great Board of Appeal offers rejected all of the requests of the British retail chain Iceland Foods Ltd regarding the technique word mark Iceland . The company cannot stop Icelandic enterprises from identifying themselves with their country of origin when advertising their goods and services in the Western Economic Area.
“This finding is a big victory and shields the value inherent in being able to identify with the country of origin and the valuable brand Iceland , ” said Minister of Higher Education, Science and Innovation Áslaug Arna Sigurbjörnsdóttir. “It is also likely that the choosing will affect developments within international intellectual property legislation and it is pleasing to think that Iceland is leading that will process. ”
In 2019, the EU Intellectual Property Office accepted all of the Icelandic State’s requests when it figured the retail chain’s brand registration of the word mark ICELAND was invalid in its entirety. In its ruling of December 15, the Grand Board of Appeal confirms all the points of that locating. The time-limit to appeal the finding to the Court of Justice of the European Union is 15 February 2023.
The Icelandic authorities plus parties to the case stressed that it was necessary to reach the substantive finding in the Board of Appeals’ deliberation of the case, this being an unprecedented case for Icelandic interests as there are no recognized incidences of a similar use of a geographical name inside trademark law. The celebrations to the case have had many meetings over the years to discuss the compromise, but these have not yielded an acceptable conclusion. 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) within 2016. Oral procedures before the Board of Attractiveness were held last Sept. The Icelandic State’s 2016 request that EUIPO invalidate the word mark ICELAND had been based on the trademark not fulfilling the legal requirements intended for registration as a European Union brand.
