Hot topics at June’s ECTA 2013 conference included the mysterious collective Community trademark and the implications of the long-awaited 2012 ONEL decision. WIPR assesses them in more detail.
ECTA 2013 in Bucharest kicked off with a discussion about the little-known collective Community trademark (CTM), which can be registered by associations or “legal persons of public law” (public entities) to allow their members to distinguish their goods from those of other groups.
Collective CTM applicants can register any form of mark, including words, logos and 3D illustrations, and must submit regulations outlining the conditions for the mark’s use. Well-known collective marks include ‘chartered global management accountant’ and ‘cava’.
According to the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM), companies can use collective and individual marks in tandem, allowing them to “differentiate their own products from those of competitors, while at the same time benefiting from the confidence of the consumers in products or services offered under the collective mark”.
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ECTA, Bucharest, ONEL, CTM, OHIM
