The European Court of Justice has just delivered its eagerly-awaited decision this morning in Case C-107/03 Procter & Gamble v OHIM (bar of soap) in French. This is so frustrating, since there wasn't even a published Advocate General's Opinion and now we have the judgment we aren't any wiser. As predicted by the IPKat yesterday, the ECJ has dismissed the applicant's appeal, presumably for the same reasons as the Court of First Instance did in December 2002 in Case T-63/01 (happily available in English here). If that's the case, the bar of soap isn't distinctive; people seeing it wouldn't think "wow, that's a trade mark" but "that's a piece of soap". And they'd be right.
The IPKat gathers that "pain de savon" is the French for "bar of soap". But the real "pain" is that of having to rely on the kindness of others to elucidate the subtleties of the ruling for him. Perhaps, as a gesture of compromise and reconciliation, the ECJ will render their next decision into Franglais.
Plus de Franglais ici et ici
The IPKat gathers that "pain de savon" is the French for "bar of soap". But the real "pain" is that of having to rely on the kindness of others to elucidate the subtleties of the ruling for him. Perhaps, as a gesture of compromise and reconciliation, the ECJ will render their next decision into Franglais.
Plus de Franglais ici et ici
WHAT A PAIN!
![WHAT A PAIN!]()
Reviewed by Jeremy
on
Thursday, September 23, 2004
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