Türkiye Adalet Akademisi Dergisi
Yazarlar: Özge ÖZSOY
Konular:Hukuk
Anahtar Kelimeler:European Union Trademark,Public Policy,Morality,Refusal of Registration,European Union Intellectual Property Office
Özet: The European Union (EU) Trademark Directive and the EU Trademark Regulation prohibits the registration of trademarks that are contrary to public policy and accepted principles of morality. As confirmed in the decision of the EU Intellectual Property Office with respect to the “Screw You” sign, which emphasized the children’s risk of exposure to sexually explicit signs, in particular the minors are protected with the said prohibition. In this decision, while the EU Trademark application was refused in connection with the various ordinary goods, the application for registration was accepted in respect of the certain products sold in sex shops. However, “Dick & Fanny” sign was deemed registrable as it did not proclaim any opinion, did not include incitement and was not perceived as insult. As stated in the judgement of the General Court, the trademarks comprised of racist and discriminatory words or symbols such as the sign of “Paki” which reminds of people from Pakistan are also not allowed to be registered. The EU Intellectual Property Office and the General Court, which is the first instance court of the European Court of Justice, held those trademarks, which remind the consumers of the terrorist organisations or the authoritarian regimes such as communist countries, as contrary to public policy. In case of being contrary to public policy, apart from refusal to register the trademarks, the EU Intellectual Property Office may later invalidate the registered trademarks. For example, a trademark with the word “Mafia” was held as contrary to public policy at a vase filed before the General Court with the request of cancellation of an invalidity decision following its declaration of invalidity. In the General Court’s judgement dated December 12, 2019, which is the most recent judgement in respect of those EU trademarks contrary to public policy, the trademark application with an expression of “Cannabis Store Amsterdam” was refused due to being held as contrary to public policy. Thus, in view of various EU Member States’ recent legislation allowing sale of weeds containing certain amount of THC, which is the active element of marijuana, this judgement complicates the registration of trademarks with the words “marijuana” and “cannabis” and gives rise to some debates.