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27 October 2014Trademarks

Tesco gives up on dashes trademark quest

UK supermarket group Tesco has given up on its attempt to trademark the blue dashes that form part of its logo.

The chain previously had its attempt to trademark the dashes, used under each letter of the store’s name, rejected by the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) earlier this year.

Although it initially dismissed the rejection as “a preliminary stage of an ongoing process”, Tesco has now officially withdrawn the application.

In August this year, the IPO said it rejected the application on the grounds that the sign was too simple.

The IPO said that, although customers may associate the dashes with the supermarket, it was likely that they would need to see them underneath the word ‘Tesco’ to make the connection.

Hearing officer Edward Smith said the dashes were “entirely dependent” on the word ‘Tesco’ and represented punctuation, rather than a recognisable symbol.

Last month the supermarket group announced it was appealing against an IPO decision to deny it a trademark for the word ‘Clubcard’.

The Clubcard allows regular shoppers to collect points over time, which can then be used to convert into vouchers.

Tesco tried to register the name in January 2011, but its application was rejected in December last year after the IPO ruled it was "devoid of any distinctive character" and was "commonly used by third parties".

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More on this story

Trademarks
30 September 2014   British supermarket group Tesco has appealed against a decision by the UK Intellectual Property Office to refuse it a trademark for the blue dashes under its logo.
Trademarks
9 September 2014   UK supermarket group Tesco is set to appeal against a decision to deny it a trademark for the word ‘Clubcard’.