TRADEMARK | The EUIPO Grand Board of Appeal receives referral on trademarks claiming individuals’ faces

On 26 September 2024, The EUIPO Second Board of Appeal has referred case R50/2024-2 to the Grand Board of Appeal, concerning admissibility of a trademark application claiming a man’s likeness. The case concerns a European trademark application filed by Dutch singer and entertainer Jan Smith claiming its face, which was refused by the European Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) Examination Division for lack of distinctive character. Notably, the EUIPO found that the applied-for trademark was not able to designate the commercial origin of goods and services it claimed in that it consists of a generic representation of a person,. While referring the matter, in order to ensure consistency and coherence of decisions rendered on matter similar to that at issue. the Second Board of Appeal highlighted that the Office’s recent case law has often ruled that trademarks claiming a person’s face are not per se devoid of distinctive character (see case R 2063/2016-4).

Newsletter n. 102 – December 2024