Further relative grounds for refusal or invalidity
in consequence of the use made of it by the proprietor of the trade mark or with his consent in respect of the goods or services for which it is registered, it is liable to mislead the public, particularly as to the nature, quality or geographical origin of those goods or services.
4 categories
Article 51(1)(b) CTM Regulation
Article 4(4)(g) Directive 2008/95
Upon opposition by the proprietor of a non-registered trade mark or of another sign used in the course of trade of more than mere local significance, the trade mark applied for shall not be registered where and to the extent that, pursuant to the Community legislation or the law of the Member State governing that sign:
(a) rights to that sign were acquired prior to the date of application for registration of the Community trade mark, or the date of the priority claimed for the application for registration of the Community trade mark;
(b) that sign confers on its proprietor the right to prohibit the use of a subsequent trade mark
(Art. 8(4) CTM Regulation, see also Art. 4(4)(b) Directive 2008/95)
‘earlier trade marks’ means : (...) trade marks which, on the date of application for registration of the Community trade mark, or, where appropriate, of the priority claimed in respect of the application for registration of the Community trade mark, are well known in a Member State, in the sense in which the words ‘well known’ are used in Article 6bis of the Paris Convention.
(Art. 8(2)(c) CTM Regulation, see also Art. 4(2) Directive 2008/95)
A Community trade mark shall also be declared invalid on application to the Office or on the basis of a counterclaim in
infringement proceedings where the use of such trade mark may be prohibited pursuant to another earlier right under the
Community legislation or national law governing its protection, and in particular:
(a) a right to a name;
(b) a right of personal portrayal;
(c) a copyright;
(d) an industrial property right.
(Art. 53 (b) CTM Regulation, see also Art. 4(4)(c) Directive 2008/95)
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