The Trade Marks Directive 2015
2015/2436
harmonises

trade mark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a form of intellectual property that consists of a word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination that identifies a product or service from a particular source and distinguishes it from oth ...

rights in

European Union law European Union law is a system of Supranational union, supranational Law, laws operating within the 27 member states of the European Union (EU). It has grown over time since the 1952 founding of the European Coal and Steel Community, to promote ...

History

Council Directive No. 89/104/EEC, "to approximate the laws of the Member States relating to trade marks", was introduced into

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

law on 21 December 1988. Its provisions were required to be introduced into national law by 29 December 1991. On this date, the Directive therefore became law with direct effect in each of the member states of the European Union. It was repealed in 2008 by EU Directive 2008/95/EC, which in turn was recast by Directive 2015/2436. In the UK the Directive was transposed into domestic law by The Trade Marks Regulations 2018 which amended the

Trade Marks Act 1994 The Trade Marks Act 1994 (c. 26) is the law governing trade marks within the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man. It implements EU Directive No. 89/104/EEC (The Trade Marks Directive) which forms the framework for the trade mark laws of all ...

.UK Legislation
Trade Marks Act 1994
/ref>

Intention

The Directive was intended to approximate the laws of the Member States of the European Union which relate to

s and to harmonise disparities in the respective

laws which had the potential to impede the

free movement of goods The European single market, also known as the European internal market or the European common market, is the single market comprising mainly the member states of the European Union (EU). With certain exceptions, it also comprises Iceland, L ...

and provision of services, or to distort

competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indi ...

within the European Union. The Directive provided a framework of minimum provisions applicable throughout the European Union but did not seek to impose onerous obligations on national trademark registries. For example, the Directive did not stipulate how member states should deal with the registration, revocation and invalidity of trademarks. These elements were left to the national bodies' discretion.

Grounds for refusal or invalidity

The Directive stipulates that signs ''cannot'' be registered if they are: * devoid of distinctive character * signs which exclusively indicate the kind, quality, or other characteristics of the goods or services they represent * customary signs in the trade * contrary to

public policy Public policy is an institutionalized proposal or a Group decision-making, decided set of elements like laws, regulations, guidelines, and actions to Problem solving, solve or address relevant and problematic social issues, guided by a conceptio ...

, or * deceitful.

References

External links

Text of directive with headers (html)Text of the directive (pdf)
{{Intellectual property laws of the European Union European Union directives Intellectual property law of the European Union 1988 in law 1988 in the European Economic Community

History

Intention

Grounds for refusal or invalidity

See also

References

External links