1 October 2015Jurisdiction reportsHanna Nylund

Finland: When the numbers don’t count

In case MAO:492/15 on the other hand the court considered whether KappAhl Sverige’s international trademark ‘1953’ can be registered in classes 18, 25 and 35 in Finland for a range of goods including clothing, footwear, headgear, bags, etc, and retail services concerning such goods.

The Finnish Patent and Registration Office (PRH) denied both applications due to lack of distinctiveness, saying the signs consist of numbers only.

According to Abloy, the sign ‘12’ constitutes an item number indicating the manufacturer of the door handle, but PRH argued that the sign can be understood as an indication of the quantity or price of the product and is therefore lacking distinctiveness.

As for sign ‘1953’, PRH claimed that it is conceived as a date, indicating when KappAhl was founded or when the production of the goods started. KappAhl argued that such an argument is not a valid reason for rejecting the trademark application, and that the sign is not descriptive in relation to the goods and services covered by the application.

In both cases, the court referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union’s (CJEU) decision in Agencja Wydawnicza Technopol v OHIM, concerning the application for registration of the sign ‘1000’ as a Community trademark in class 16. According to the case, the fact that a sign consists of numbers alone is not an obstacle for registration, nor is the fact that a sign comprises numbers with no graphic modifications (ie, lacking a creative/artistic styling).

However, when addressing the matter of descriptiveness, the CJEU stated that it is not necessary for a sign to be used in a descriptive way at the time of the trademark application—it is sufficient that the sign could be used for such purposes. Moreover, signs that consist of numbers alone may designate quantity, for example. That could constitute a valid ground for refusal of a trademark application if it is reasonable to believe that (according to the relevant public) the quantity indicated by such numbers characterises the goods or services covered by the trademark application.

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