Trademark too descriptive to obtain protection.

The EU General Court has decided that the term Halloumi is too descriptive to obtain Community trademark (CTM) protection.

The court rejected Cyprus’s attempt to receive protection for both the trademark ‘Halloumi’ and the Greek spelling ‘Xaλλoymi’ to cover cheese and milk products.

Cyprus applied for CTM protection in 2013 and after several rulings in a judgement issued last week the court concurred with OHIM’s finding that the applications were too descriptive.

The Court said: “It must be accepted that the descriptive meaning of the sign ‘Halloumi’, as found by the board of appeal, is established, at least for the Cypriot public. For identical reasons, the same conclusion can be drawn in respect of the sign ‘Xaλλoymi’. It follows that the board of appeal made no error of assessment in finding that the marks applied for could not be accepted for registration because of their descriptive meaning of the goods in respect of which registration was sought, at least for the Cypriot public.”

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