An Inverted Cow Cannot Be A Valid Trademark In The EU?

Republished By Plato

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One interesting article by Anna Maria Stein for IP Kat shows us how creative a trademark application can be.

Redefine Meat Ltd applied for the following international trademark with a designation of the EU:

The classes of goods and services in the application were:

_{Class 1 – Protein for use in the industrial manufacture of foodstuff, excluding foodstuff containing meat; fatty acids for industrial purposes; chemical additives for use in the manufacture of food, excluding food containing meat; food flavoring materials and food additives for use in the industrial manufacture of foodstuff, excluding foodstuff containing meat.}
_{Class 7 – Additive manufacturing machines for preparation of food, excluding food containing meat; additive manufacturing machines for preparation of meat substitutes; food (excluding food containing meat) 3D printers; meat substitutes 3D printers.
Class 29 – Meat substitutes; meat substitutes for industrial use in the manufacture of food products; protein based meat substitutes; fat for use in the industrial manufacture of foodstuff; prepared and packaged meals and dishes based on meat substitutes.
Class 42 – Food (excluding food containing meat) engineering services, namely, custom design, formulation of compounds and processes and 3D meat modelling for others for producing meat substitutes and food products; custom design of additive manufacturing machines for preparation of meat substitutes and for preparation of food based on meat substitutes.}

The EUIPO refused to register the mark based on absolute grounds. First of all, the Office considered that the sign of an inverted cow will be deceptive for consumers in the EU because they will consider the products and services indicated by the mark as cow-related while those in the application are for meat substitutes.

Secondly, the Office stated that the sign lacks a distinctive character. Consumers will still recognize the image of a cow and will associate it with cow-related meat products. What’s more many companies that produce meat products use an image of a cow on their packages which confirms this possibility even more.

Obviously, the applicant’s idea was that an inverted cow would mean a product without meat but this creative approach went too far for the EUIPO practice and the legal requirements.