In 2010, the principality of Monaco obtained an international trademark registration for the word mark MONACO. OHIM, i.e. the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market based in Alicante, however, rejected protection for the trademark in the European Union in 2013 for goods in classes 9, 16 as well as for services in classes 39 and 41. At final instance, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has now confirmed this rejection of protection by reasoning that due to the public’s perception, the term “Monaco” only referred to the identically named geographic region Monaco, so that in business, the term Monaco serves as an indication to the geographic origin or destination of the goods or services so that it is descriptive and further-more does not have any distinctiveness, either.
Dipl.-Ing. Josef Bockhorni (Patent Attorney)
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