Grand Board of Appeal rejects the use of the word mark ICELAND

The European Union Intellectual Property Office’s Grand Board of Appeal has rejected all requests of the British retail chain ICELAND Foods Ltd regarding the use of the word mark ICELAND. The company can no longer stop Icelandic enterprises from identifying themselves with their country of origin when marketing their goods and services in the European Economic Area.

In short, in its ruling, the Grand Board of Appeal agrees with all of Iceland's main points of view and that ICELAND's registrations of the trademark ICELAND should be invalidated. The decision is based on the mark not being distinctive as it only describes a geographical origin. According to the ruling, it is not considered normal that the registration by a party of a country name can result in that party being able to prohibit parties from the country from promoting products and services with reference to origin. According to the ruling, the word ICELAND is now free for use by Icelandic parties to describe their origin of goods and services.

The case is considered to be precedent-setting and will most likely have an impact on international intellectual property law, not just in Europe.

Further information can be found in the press release on the issue on the Government of Iceland website.