EU General Court rejects gaming company’s trademark
The EU General Court has dismissed a trademark appeal from a Maltese casino gaming company.
In a decision today, April 9, the court upheld a ruling by the Fourth Board of Appeal of the European Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) that Zitro’s applied-for mark lacked distinctive character.
Zitro applied to register a trademark for classes 9, 28 and 41 for the words ‘Pick & Win Multislot’ on a black background. ‘Pick’ was written in a bold orange and yellow font with a white ‘&’ sign in the curve of the ‘c’. ‘Win’ was below in bold white font and ‘multislot’ below this in a yellow font.
The goods and services covered by the applied-for mark include slot machines, game machines for arcades, betting terminals and online game services.
In its appeal to the court, Zitro said the EUIPO erred in its decision and the term ‘win’ in its applied-for mark will not be perceived as a positive quality to the goods and services it covers.
But the General Court upheld the EUIPO’s judgment that the public would “immediately” perceive the mark as a promotional message that highlights the positive qualities of the goods and services covered by the mark.
The court also found the applied-for mark was not distinctive enough to leave a lasting imprint in a consumer's mind.
Additionally, the General Court said the word elements contained in the applied-for mark did not have a distinctive character.
It said the mark was “not capable of differentiating the commercial origin of the goods services” covered by it, from those that are offered by Zitro’s competitors.
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