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What ‘NOW’ for CTMs?

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Published on: 15 November 2012

Published by a LexisNexis IP expert

Table of contents

Original news
What was the claim about?
What did the court say about the figurative aspects of trade marks (the ‘figurative figleaf’)?
Does this case impact on the development, interpretation or enforcement of CTMs?
Lexis®PSL comment

Article summary

IP & IT analysis: The Chancery Division decided the Community Trademark (CTM) ‘NOW’ was invalid. The court decided the word had been widely used entirely descriptively in the broadcast and media sector and would be understood by the average consumer as a description of a characteristic of the service. Bill Lister, intellectual property partner at Heatons, explains the basis of the ruling and its implications, while Jessica Stretch discusses the future development of CTMs.

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