Ordnance Survey Fails To Expire Ctm

has learnt that the Ordnance Survey has failed to register the discussion grade OS every bit a CTM for its pith goods.

The Ordnance Survey is Britain’s official national mapping agency. It applied to register OS every bit a CTM for diverse goods. The examiner refused the application for Classes 9, xvi too 42 on grounds of descriptiveness too lack of distinctiveness. The examiner claimed that OS was a known abbreviation for Ordnance Survey too that it would inform consumers that goods or services bearing it came from an official map-making agency. The Ordnance Survey appealed.

The appeal to the Second Board of Appeal was unsuccessful too the grade was flora to endure descriptive, too so to lack distinctiveneness.

It was non disputed that OS is a brusk course of teaching of Ordnance Survey too that people oft referred to Ordnance Survey maps or OS maps, which are oft rattling unlike from those produced yesteryear commercial publishers. The grade would inform consumers that the goods or services too then marked originated from an official map-making agency.

A grade must pick out approximately distinguishing characteristic inwards gild to endure capable of performance every bit a merchandise grade i.e. of existence able to distinguish the goods of 1 project from those of another. The OS grade had no such distinguishing feature. Instead, it conveyed to the relevant English linguistic communication speaking world the message that the goods inwards enquiry were of the variety that 1 would hold off to endure provided yesteryear an Ordinance Survey, regardless of whether it was the Ordinance Survey of Northern Republic of Ireland or of Great Britain. This message would non endure express to printed textile too would include global positioning systems too software related to mapping.

The relevant consumer would in all probability too perceive the grade every bit an indication that the goods or services inwards enquiry were of above-average lineament because they had been produced yesteryear the Ordinance Survey, too non only whatever commercial publisher.

The promotional message was unequivocal too meant that the relevant world would meet the grade every bit a arguing to the consequence that the goods too services were existence offered yesteryear 1 of the Ordnance Surveys of the Member States, too non every bit an indicator of origin.

says that the Board’s arguing that consumers would perceive the goods every bit existence of to a higher house average lineament because they came from a national mapping way does non foursquare amongst the fact that the grade was idea non to signal origin. Perhaps this is approximately other manifestation of the problems faced yesteryear the makers of goods who pick out an effective monopoly inwards the type of goods that would endure covered yesteryear that mark.