Refusal of application for a European Union trade mark

(Article 7 and Article 42(2) EUTMR)]

Alicante, 25/09/2019

100% Natural Foods Ltd

Old Brewery House Park Lane 189 Stanmmore Hill

Stanmore London, City of HA7 3HA

REINO UNIDO

Application No:	018060001
Your reference:	NaturalStateWM
Trade mark:	Natural State
Mark type:	Word mark
Applicant:	100% Natural Foods Ltd Old Brewery House Park Lane 189 Stanmmore Hill Stanmore London, City of HA7 3HA REINO UNIDO

The Office raised an objection on 24/05/2019 pursuant to Article 7(1)(b) and (c) and Article 7(2) EUTMR because it found that the trade mark applied for is descriptive and devoid of any distinctive character, for the reasons set out in the attached letter.

The applicant submitted its observations on 24/07/2019, which may be summarised as follows.

1. The sign “Natural State” is a complex evocative notion of “nature and humanity’s place on it” or of a political theory. Therefore, the sign is distinctive since the consumers will not associate the sign with the goods for which protection is sought. From a semantical point of view, the sign cannot be considered descriptive for the goods claimed.

Pursuant to Article 94 EUTMR, it is up to the Office to take a decision based on reasons or evidence on which the applicant has had an opportunity to present its comments.

Under Article 7(1)(c) EUTMR, ‘trade marks which consist exclusively of signs or indications which may serve, in trade, to designate the kind, quality, quantity, intended purpose, value, geographical origin or the time of production of the goods or of rendering of the service, or other characteristics of the goods or service’ are not to be registered.

By prohibiting the registration as European Union trade marks of the signs and indications to which it refers, Article 7(1)(c) EUTMR

pursues an aim which is in the public interest, namely that descriptive signs or indications relating to the characteristics of goods or services in respect of which registration is sought may be freely used by all. That provision accordingly prevents such signs and indications from being reserved to one undertaking alone because they have been registered as trade marks.

(23/10/2003, C‑191/01 P, Doublemint, EU:C:2003:579, § 31).

After giving due consideration to the applicant’s arguments, the Office has decided to maintain the objection.

1. In relation to the applicant’s argument regarding the non-descriptiveness of the sign, it should be mentioned that since the trade mark at issue is made up of several components (i.e. two verbal elements “Natural” and “State”), for the purposes of assessing its distinctive character it must be considered as a whole.

However, this is not incompatible with an examination of each of the mark’s individual components in turn (19/09/2001, T-118/00, Tabs (3D), EU:T:2001:226, § 59).

The Office respectfully disagrees with the applicant’s submissions as regards the complexity of the sign, because the verbal elements composing the sign i.e. “Natural” and “State” form part of the ordinary English vocabulary and there is no additional element that could be regarded as arbitrary, fanciful, and imaginative. Therefore, the relevant consumers will immediately perceive the sign as a clear statement of a descriptive nature in respect of the goods specified, namely that the goods have “a pure or unrefined condition”. Moreover, the term “Natural” is commonly used in advertisements and with the claimed goods in order to highlight the quality of the goods in question. In addition, the expression “Natural State” was to be found in dictionaries available to the Office (https://www.thefreedictionary.com/natural+state ).

According to this line of reasoning, the Office maintains the opinion that the sign is descriptive for the goods claimed, because it describes the following meaning: “a pure or unrefined condition”. Moreover, when this meaning is connected with the goods in Classes 29 and 30, “Natural” would be perceived by the relevant consumer that the “seasoned nuts”, cacao butter for food” or the “cereal based snacks” are pure and have no chemical substances added to them and are therefore thought to be healthy.

The relevant consumer would perceive the sign as providing information that the goods are provided in their natural state that is in a natural or unrefined condition.

The applicant argues that the sign has several meanings and that, although descriptive, the sign describes evocative notions of nature, humanity and even a political theory. Nevertheless, it should be borne in mind that, for a trade mark to be refused registration under Article 7(1)(c) EUTMR,

A sign must therefore be refused registration under that provision if at least one of its possible meanings designates a characteristic of the goods or services concerned.

(23/10/2003, C‑191/01 P, Doublemint, EU:C:2003:579, § 32, emphasis added.)

In the same sense, an analysis of the term in question in the light of the relevant lexical and grammatical rules is also useful (30/11/2004, T‑173/03, Nurseryroom, EU:T:2004:347, § 21).

As regards the semantical point of view, the word mark at issue only contains two common terms and both are part of the vocabulary of the reference language and do not represent an exception to the lexical rules of that language. Therefore, the expression should be considered to be grammatically correct and forms a meaningful term, namely that the goods provided under this sign have a pure or unrefined condition which means that the goods in question have no chemical substances added and are therefore thought to be healthy.

Accordingly, it is part of the store of words available to all traders for the purpose of describing their wares in such a way as to attract consumers. No undertaking may claim an exclusive right to the use of such words in order to describe the kind and/or quality of their goods. It follows that, in view of the terms of Article 7(1)(b) and (c) and (2) EUMR, the word mark “Natural State” may not be registered as a EU trade mark.

For the abovementioned reasons, and pursuant to Article 7(1)(b) and (c) and Article 7(2) EUTMR, the application for European Union trade mark No 18 060 001 is hereby rejected for all the goods claimed.

According to Article 67 EUTMR, you have a right to appeal against this decision. According to Article 68 EUTMR, notice of appeal must be filed in writing at the Office within two months of the date of notification of this decision. It must be filed in the language of the proceedings in which the decision subject to appeal was taken. Furthermore, a written statement of the grounds of appeal must be filed within four months of the same date. The notice of appeal will be deemed to be filed only when the appeal fee of EUR 720 has been paid.

Annalisa GIACOMAZZI