Trade mark decision

BL Number

O/229/05

Decision date

16 August 2005

Hearing Officer

Mr M Reynolds

Mark

AROMACOLOGY

Classes

03

Applicant

Opponent

Opposition

Result

Application for a declaration of invalidity, Section 47(1) (citing Sections 3(1)(b) & 3(1)(c)): - Successful.

Points Of Interest

• 1. Words newly coined: "Even if it qualified as a neologism at the time it was first used, it had by the relevant date fallen into use as the name of a new science ……".

Summary

The applicant claimed that the word AROMACOLOGY was a purely descriptive term, coined as a name for the science of aromas. The registered proprietor denied this and also claimed that the term had acquired a distinctive character as a result of the use made of it. In order to determine this the Hearing Officer had to sift a mass of evidence but in the result he concluded that the word was descriptive; its registrations should have been prevented by the terms of Section 3(1)(c); it had not acquired a distinctive character as indicating the registered proprietor's goods.

The application for a declaration of invalidity succeeded accordingly.

Full decision O/229/05 199Kb