James Nurton, London
They may only account for a tiny percentage of trade mark applications, but non-traditional marks have caused a lot of angst among brand owners, IP offices and judges worldwide. Later this month governments have an opportunity to settle some of the difficulties by agreeing detailed rules on how non-traditional marks should be represented in applications before national offices.
The rules have been proposed by a Working Group of the Singapore Treaty, which concerns trade mark filing procedures and has gained 21 member states since it was signed in 2006. They will be discussed by the Treaty's Assembly at its meeting in Geneva, which starts on September 20.
The proposed changes to Rule 3 of the Treaty concern three-dimensional, hologram, motion, colour, position, sound and other non-visible marks. While the Treaty as signed contained references to non-traditional marks, it did not until now include much detail on how...