The Voivodeship Administrative Court in Warsaw in its judgment of 11 March 2011 case file VI SA/Wa 2180/10 ruled that the word-figurative trade mark 60 R-156991 is not sufficiently distinctive in standard business transactions because it does not individualize the goods of the trade mark owner among the goods of the same type that originate from different companies.

The Polish Patent Office properly assessed the consumers of goods such as crosswords publications, and considered this groups as very diverse. Its members are people of different ages and different levels of education. There was no reason to believe that such a broadly defined consumer will identify a specific numerical designation with a given publisher, not the number of crosswords included in the publication. This judgment is not final yet.

Categories: absolute grounds for refusal | Art. 107 §3 APC | Art. 165 IPL | Art. 246 IPL | Art. 255 IPL | Art. 315 IPL | Art. 4 TMA | Art. 7(1) TMA | Art. 8 APC | Art. 8(1) TMA | descriptive character | distinctive character | Polish Act on Industrial Property Law | Polish Act on Trade marks | Polish Administrative Proceedings Code | trade mark invalidation | trademark law | Voivodeship Administrative Court.