France jurisdiction report: The case of ‘Neuschwanstein’
The name of this famous German castle, which Ludwig II of Bavaria designed and built, and in which he was arrested in 1886, belongs to the State of Bavaria. The state filed the name of this castle as a European trademark in many classes of goods and services (3, 8, 14–16, 18, 21, 25, 28, 30, 32–36, 38 and 44) and the application was accepted for registration by the EUIPO on July 22, 2011.
The Bundesverband Souvenir Geschenke Ehrenpreise (the Federal Association of Souvenir Gifts) filed a request for invalidity of this registration, and during the procedure, the question arose of whether such a name was descriptive of the geographical origin of the goods and services. The trademark was filed for a large list of everyday goods, sold as souvenirs.
In view of the subsequent refusal of the EUIPO authorities to cancel this mark, confirmed by the EU General Court, the association brought the case before the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).
The opinion
In a judgment dated September 6, 2018 (C-488/16), the CJEU confirmed these previous decisions (T-167/15 and R 28/2014). Thus, according to the court, this trademark is not an indication of the geographical origin of the goods and services it covers, since the place it designates is not that of the production of the goods nor of the provision of the services designated.
