Tomorrow at 12: discover the best Christmas commercials of 2024 in the free webinar. Register
When most people think of a brand, they immediately think of a product name or logo. HR experts and social media gurus might even think of personal branding and reputation. This article is about brands in a legal sense, and then especially about special types of brands. Because even in the legal world, 'brand' is a flexible concept.
The bulk of the official trademark registers of the Benelux and EU concerns brand names and logos. These are by far the most common types of registered trademarks. However, trademark law is flexible and other types of trademarks can also be protected. Think of animations, sounds, colours and even shapes. These are all house style elements that are often just as recognisable as the brand name or logo. For example: the shape of the well-known Stabilo marker or the piano riff at the end of T-Mobile commercials. These are the types of trademarks I mean by 'special trademarks'.
For companies, these types of special brands, netherlands telegram data just like 'ordinary' brands, represent a lot of goodwill . Especially when they are used for a long time, they immediately evoke the memory of a company, even without seeing the associated logo. Reason enough for protection in the form of an exclusive right. With that, you can prohibit competitors from, in short, using the same or a similar identification mark.
The greater the impact of the 'original' on the market, the faster it will be followed. With a trademark registration in your pocket, you can legally tackle such a competitor who has joined in. In recent years, legal proceedings have been instituted up to the highest authorities at European level to obtain trademark rights on special trademarks. There is therefore a real need for trademark protection from the market. However, practice shows that these types of trademarks do not end up in the trademark register without a fight.
Quick refresher: What is a trademark, legally speaking?
In legal terms, a 'brand' is a sign that distinguishes the products and services of one company from those of another. In short, an indication of origin. There are requirements for this: a brand must have distinctive character. And it may not be potentially descriptive of the underlying products or services. The official bodies, such as the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property and the European Union Intellectual Property Office, assess these grounds. A trademark application can therefore also be rejected.
