Managing Intellectual Property

Trade mark study focuses on cluttering of register

14 June 2010

James Nurton, London

Members of the Max Planck Institute conducting a study into Europe’s trade mark system appear concerned about the cluttering of the register, according to practitioners who attended a meeting last week

Representatives of users groups who were present at a discussion in Munich on Tuesday and Wednesday told Managing IP that the members of the Institute seemed to have already identified the key issues that they will report on when they submit recommendations in November this year.

“It seems to have been accepted that cluttering is a problem without any evidence,” said Dawn Franklin of Brandright, who represented European business group AIM at the meeting. “The market is itself cluttered in this area. We say you should not try to solve market problems via the registry.”

Kerstin Gründig-Schnelle of Liechtenstein Körner & Partner, who was part of INTA’s delegation, added: “They asked a lot about how we feel about cluttering. The consensus among the users groups was that, while searching is difficult, we don’t feel unduly restricted.”

Tove Graulund, who represented MARQUES, said: “I got the impression they want to...



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