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9 September 2014Trademarks

Tesco to appeal against ‘Clubcard’ trademark rebuke

UK supermarket group Tesco is set to appeal against a decision to deny it a trademark for the word ‘Clubcard’.

The retail chain is disputing a decision from the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) which ruled that the word lacked distinctive character.

According to news website Marketing Magazine, Tesco will appeal before the IPO at a hearing this Friday, (September 12).

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 it was rejected in December last year after the IPO ruled it was "devoid of any distinctive character" and was "commonly used by third parties".

The retailer argued the term was distinctive to Tesco, but the IPO said it was always shown along with the word Tesco and was seen as descriptive.

A Tesco spokesperson told WIPR that the appeal is “the latest stage of an ongoing process”.

It is the second trademark case involving Tesco in just under a month, after its attempt to trademark the dashes under each letter of the store’s name was also denied by the IPO.

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

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27 October 2014   UK supermarket group Tesco has reportedly given up on its attempt to trademark the blue dashes that form part of its logo.