Registrability

WARNING: Not all names can be protected as trademarks! The German Patent and Trademark Office (GPTO) and the European Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) examine trademark applications on the basis of so-called “absolute grounds of refusal”. A trademark is only eligible for registration if no absolute grounds of refusal exist. A name is not registrable if it is, e.g., either purely descriptive, is misleading towards the public, contains a national emblem/flag or otherwise violates laws regarding morality or public policy.

In particular names that merely describe goods or services are banned from registration (e.g. the word mark “chair” for the goods “furniture” or the English word “travel” for the services “accommodation and lodging services”). Such names must be kept free for the public and cannot be monopolized as trademarks. However, – as usual in the field of trademark law – there are legal “grey zones”. The word mark “Apple” cannot be registered for a name of a “fruit stand”, but, “Apple” can be registered as a trademark for “computers” as the name is not descriptive for this product.

As you can take from the from the examples above, the issue “trademark registrability” is rather complex. We look forward to advising you.