EU block trade mark registration of phone ringtone

Even though the EU has been willing to allow the registration of ‘unconventional’ marks in the past including sounds, a recent decision has prevented protection over a very well known sound.

In 2014, a Brazilian company Globo Comunicação e Participações submitted an application to register the ringing of an alarm or a telephone as a EU trade mark for the use in smart phones.

The initial application was rejected for lacking distinctive character, citing the sound as a commonplace noise.

Globo appealed this decision, only to again rejected by the General Court of the European Union who agreed with the EU Intellectual Property Office and refused its registration.

The key reason for the refusal of the mark was the lack of its distinctive nature, not the fact it was a sound.

A sound mark can be registered as a traditional trade mark can so as long as it satisfies all the criteria which include the need to be graphically represented and the need to be distinctive.

There have been many success stories, including the McDonalds “I’m lovin’ it “jingle and the 20^th Century Fox fanfare, therefore do not be put off by this ruling.

If you want to protect a sound and you believe it is distinctive and original to you, contact Jane at The Trademarkroom.

By Ellis Sweetenham