Cannabis, corona and the latest morality developments in European trade mark law

Abstract

What do the trade marks Northern Lights, Mango Kush and Green Gelato have in common? Perhaps they ring a bell, but most likely they do not. These European Union (EU) trade mark applications all refer to (the sale of) cannabis or cannabis-related products. During the past 3 years (2019–2021), these and several similar applications were (partially) refused on the same ground: they were deemed contrary to public policy, the absolute refusal ground in Article 7 (1)(f) of the EU Trade Mark Regulation (EUTMR).1 Opposed to controversial cannabis products, another spike in refusals based on Article 7 (1)(f) could be observed during the past year: the ‘corona’ trade marks. Amongst these refusals were, for example, Coronalux, Corona tracer, Mask Covid, Corona hero and several more. The trade marks were found to be contrary to accepted principles of morality, because using ‘corona’ would be too insensitive to people who have suffered from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, also, the EU trade mark application for Poul M. Volther’s famous Corona chair from 1964 was rejected, despite having been in production for more than half a century prior to the first appearance of COVID-19. Luckily for other ‘corona’-trade mark owners, this decision was reversed on appeal.2