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1 August 2019TrademarksRory O'Neill

UKIPO cancels marijuana leaf TM after Adidas complaint

The UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has invalidated a trademark depicting a marijuana leaf after an opposition from Adidas.

In its  decision, issued Tuesday, July the IPO said that, although it did not find any likelihood of confusion with Adidas’ earlier marks, the opposed mark ran counter to public policy and morality due to its suggestion of dependency on illegal drugs.

Addicted Original registered the mark in 2017 in classes 25, 35, 36, and 42 for clothing and various retail services.

The mark features a design resembling a marijuana leaf with five horizontal stripes and the phrase ‘addicted’ in lower-case.

Adidas opposed the mark,  claiming that it was likely to cause confusion with its signature ‘Trefoil’ logo, as well as cause harm to its brand due to the ‘addicted’ mark’s association with illegal drugs.

The IPO said that although the ‘addicted’ mark would likely draw an association in many consumers’ minds with Adidas’ logo, there was little chance that anyone would think products bearing the marks came from the same company.

But despite not finding any likelihood of confusion, the IPO found that any association between the two brands could cause damage to Adidas due to the subject nature of the ‘addicted’ mark.

“For those consumers who do recognise the marijuana leaf in the proprietor’s mark, the concept of addiction and illegal drugs is one that [Adidas] will, undoubtedly, not want to be associated with,” the decision said.

This association would cause damage to Adidas’ reputation, the IPO found.

The IPO also ruled that, more generally, the ‘addicted’ mark was contrary to either public policy or the accepted principles of morality.

This was despite Addicted Original’s claims that it was involved in the movement to alter public policy and legalise cannabis in the UK.

“The use of the word ‘addicted’ in the proprietor’s mark goes beyond the suggestion of recreational or medical use of the drug but to a social issue of dependency upon drugs,” the IPO said.

The IPO awarded costs of £1,550 ($1,876) to Adidas.

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