EUIPO sides with Vogue publishers in TM dispute
The EU Intellectual Property Office ( EUIPO) Board of Appeal has sided with the publisher of Vogue magazine in a trademark cancellation appeal.
In a decision, published November 21, the EUIPO said that because Enovation Brands had not brought forward any precise argument against an earlier decision, the Board of Appeal will not re-examine it.
In 2006, Enovation Brands registered the trademark ‘Voga’ in class 33 for alcoholic beverages.
Advance Magazine Publishers, which publishes Vogue, filed a request for a declaration of invalidity based on its earlier trademark ‘Vogue’, which is registered in class 43 for goods and services including restaurant and nightclub services.
In February 2019, the Cancellation Division upheld the invalidity request. While it found that the goods covered by both Enovation Bands’ trademark and Advance Magazine Publishers’ mark are similar to a low degree, the services they cover are complementary and could come from the same undertaking.
Additionally, it said both trademarks share the first three letters, ‘Vog’, and the earlier trademark, ‘Vogue’, has acquired a degree of inherent distinctiveness.
Enovation Brands appealed the decision. It said Advance Magazine Publishers’ had known about its trademark since 2006, but failed to take any action until 2017. It also submitted evidence of the ‘Voga’ trademark appearing in magazines for advertising wine.
But, Advanced Magazine Publishers said Enovation Brands “consistently fails” to explain the commercial intentions behind its ‘Voga’ trademark, and deliberately sets out to “take advantage” of its famous publication, Vogue.
In its decision, the EU Intellectual Property Office said the appeal was not well-founded.
It said the scope of examination of the appeal extends to the only ground raised by the proprietor.
Enovation Brands has “even stated not to challenge the similarity” between its trademark and the ‘Vogue’ trademark, the EUIPO said.
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