TRADEMARK | The EU General Court on trademark reputation for virtual goods and services

On 11 December 2024, the General Court of the EU (GC) issued its decision in case T1163/2, concerning a watch company’s trademark application claiming goods and services related to virtual watches, clarifying the applicability of traditional trademark law principles to virtual goods and services. The trademark application was challenged on the basis of lack of acquired distinctiveness, and the Court faced questions about whether a trademark’s reputation for goods and services related to physical goods applies also to their virtual counterparts. The GC stated that consumers perceive virtual goods and services in the same way as their physical counterparts if (i) the virtual goods merely represent the physical goods; (ii) the virtual goods represent the functions of the physical goods; and (iii) the virtual services represent the functions of the physical services in the virtual world.

Newsletter n. 103 – January 2025