MAKING A MOUNTAIN OUT OF A MOLECULE?

And here's another little gem from the European Court of Justice, this time from the Court of First Instance (CFI). In Case T-183/03 Advanced Molecular Evolution Inc v OHIM, decided last Tuesday, the CFI ruled that the word mark ADVANCED MOLECULAR EVOLUTION was descriptive and non-distinctive in respect of the following Class 42 services:
"Research activities directed toward the molecular engineering of compounds for use in therapeutics, diagnostics, agricultural products, enzymes, chemical products, nutritional products, food additives and industrial applications, including but not limited to, commodity and speciality chemicals".
No great shock there, you might think -- and you'd be right. A couple of highlights from an otherwise predictable decision:

* "The Court finds that there is no need to determine whether the whole of the relevant public needs to be conversant in English for professional purposes. In any event under Article 7(2) of Regulation No 40/94 it is sufficient to establish that since the sign in question is English the relevant public comprises knowledgeable English-speaking consumers" (para. 17).

* "... the Board is entitled to supply definitions of particular terms of its own motion without being bound to rely on specific documents, provided that the definition can be regarded as commonly accepted. In this case the definition, although contested by the applicant, was sufficiently commonplace not to have to be substantiated in the contested decision. OHIM was easily able in its reply to corroborate the definition with the simple aid of a dictionary and an encyclopaedia" (from para. 23).

The IPKat wishes that appeals to the CFI were based on some sort of legal merit, rather than on fact.

Molecular evolution here, here and here
Evolution jokes here, here and here
MAKING A MOUNTAIN OUT OF A MOLECULE? MAKING A MOUNTAIN OUT OF A MOLECULE? Reviewed by Jeremy on Sunday, September 19, 2004 Rating: 5

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