Word mark
The word mark is a form of the brand that consists of letters or numbers. A word mark must have a specific suitability for the goods or services covered by the mark compared to those of other companies in order to be considered a means of differentiation. This distinctive power is missing, for example, in purely descriptive words or in accordance with the principles of anagrammatic sound rotation .
Examples of word marks are the Coca-Cola lettering or the colored sequence of letters Google .
Components
All characters in the Arial font specified by the German Patent and Trademark Office are permitted, Section 7 Trademark Ordinance.
Accordingly, all letters in upper and lower case, but also special characters, e.g. B..,;,:, +, -, &,!,?, @,%, $, #, And digits can be used.
The trademark is protected in all common forms of reproduction in various fonts and font styles.
Relationship to other forms of brands
If a special visual effect is required, for example by means of a special arrangement of the writing, a certain spelling, in a multi-line arrangement or with the reproduction of a color, the mark must be registered as a word / figurative mark or figurative mark .
If there is an absolute barrier to protection against a representation as a word mark for reasons of the need to keep it free , a registration as a word-image mark can be considered if a specified graphic design is added.
Anagrammatic sound rotation
One speaks of anagrammatic sound rotation when there is a risk of confusion due to a word rearrangement (syllables, letters) with the same meaning of the individual terms .
Performs a mere conversion of the components of a word mark in terms of the experience that traffic often remembers Although the elements of a mark, but not to their order, not to a sufficient character spacing, as is the holder of the first registered word mark, a defense claim against the later applied for for registration ( § 42 MarkenG).
The case law is rather restrictive and does not necessarily assume an anagrammatic sound rotation even with very similar word marks. However, the more the brands consist of imaginary terms that have no relation to the product, the stricter the case law. The anagrammatic sound rotation is an absolute protective barrier .
See also
literature
- Paul Ströbele, Franz Hacker, Frederik Thiering: Trademark law. 12th edition. Heymann, Cologne a. a. 2018, ISBN 978-3-452-28553-9 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Gabler Verlag : Gabler Wirtschaftslexikon. Keyword: word mark online , accessed on April 24, 2012.
- ↑ a b c d FAQ / What is the difference between a word mark and a word / figurative mark or a figurative mark? Which characters are permitted in a word mark? German Patent and Trademark Office, accessed on November 1, 2017 .
- ↑ List of possible characters to represent a word mark (PDF; 78 kB) . Website of the German Patent and Trademark Office. Retrieved December 3, 2014.
- ↑ BPatG PAVIS PROMA, decision of October 17, 1997 - 33 W (pat) 120/97 - E-DIN 1 DIN EN, mw N .; Decision of August 16, 2000 - 28 W (pat) 66/00 - VEGIMAX 1 VEGAMIX; Acceleration from October 26, 2000 - 25 W (pat) 211/99 - elano 1 Aleno.
- ↑ German Patent and Trademark Office: Example decision on anagrammatic sound rotation. AQUABIO vs. BIOAQA. (No longer available online.) DPMA, December 10, 2009, archived from the original on July 13, 2015 ; accessed on April 20, 2019 .
