In EUIPO v Deluxe Laboratories (Case C-437/15 P), the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) allowed an appeal against a General Court decision in which the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) was held to have erred in law in its assessment of the term ‘deluxe’, together with a figurative element, as being non-distinctive.

Facts -

In October 2012 Deluxe Laboratories, Inc, which subsequently became Deluxe Entertainment Services Group, Inc, filed a Community trademark for DELUXE with a figurative element in Classes 9, 35, 37, 39 to 42 and 45. The examiner refused the application on the grounds that the mark lacked distinctive character and informed consumers about the quality of the goods and services applied for contrary to Articles 7(1)(b) and (c) of the EU Community Trademark Regulation (207/2009). In July 2013 Deluxe appealed the decision.

Originally published in the World Trademark Review on July 04 2017.