CJEU on lack of clarity and precision of the terms used to designate the goods and services and bad faith
30-01-2020 Print this page
Trade mark law - A Community trade mark or a national trade mark cannot be declared wholly or partially invalid on the ground that terms used to designate the goods and services in respect of which that trade mark was registered lack clarity and precision: the lack of clarity and precision of the terms used to designate the goods and services covered by the registration of a Community trade mark is no part of the exhaustive list of the absolute grounds for invalidity, the lack of clarity and precision of the terms does not fall within the scope of the requirement of graphic representability and cannot be considered contrary to public policy. A trade mark application made without any intention to use the trade mark in relation to the goods and services covered by the registration constitutes bad faith if the applicant for registration of that mark had the intention either of undermining, in a manner inconsistent with honest practices, the interests of third parties, or of obtaining, without even targeting a specific third party, an exclusive right for purposes other than those falling within the functions of a trade mark: bad faith of the trade mark applicant cannot be presumed on the basis of the mere finding that, at the time of filing his or her application, the applicant had no economic activity corresponding to the goods and services referred to in that application. When the absence of the intention to use the trade mark in accordance with the essential functions of a trade mark concerns only certain goods or services referred to in the application for registration, that application constitutes bad faith only in so far as it relates to those goods or services.
IPPT201200129, CJEU, Sky v Skykick
