The long-debated question of what constitutes genuine use of a Community trade mark looks set to be addressed by the European Court of Justice, thanks to a controversial decision by the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property (BOIP) in January.
The decision came in an opposition proceeding over an application for a Benelux trade mark for the word Omel. The application was filed by a holding company, Hagelkruis Beheer.
Leno Merken, a trade mark firm that is part of the Knijff group, filed an opposition based on its Community trade mark Onel. The mark had only been used in one EU member state – the Netherlands.
This raised the question whether the CTM had been put to "genuine use" in the Community, as required by Article 15 of the CTM Regulation. Although the Regulation does not stipulate what constitutes genuine use, a joint statement of the European Commission and Council at...