Registrability of pattern marks: Louis Vuitton’s Damier Azur before the General Court of the EU

Abstract

By a judgment handed down in Damier Azur,1 the General Court (GC) of the EU has reversed an invalidity decision rendered by the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), concerning the registration as a European Union Trade Mark (EUTM) of a pattern mark claimed by the French luxury company Louis Vuitton. The EUIPO found that the mark was unregistrable due to lack of distinctive character as per Article 7(1)(b) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2017 on the European Union Trade Mark (EUTMR).2 The EUIPO also ruled out that the mark had acquired distinctive character through use in accordance with Article 7(3) EUTMR. In examining the appeal against the invalidity decision, the GC agreed on the finding of lack of inherent distinctiveness but held that the EUIPO had wrongly established that the mark had no acquired distinctiveness....