An Italian clothing retailer lost a
legal battle with Batman on Wednesday after the General Court,
Europe's seccond-highest tribunal, ruled that the logo
representing a bat in an oval surround is distinctive enough to
warrant its trade mark on all items.
Commerciale Italiana Srl had challenged a decision by the EU
intellectual property office (EUIPO) to reject its request to
consider the trademark - registered in the EU by Batman owner DC
Comics in 1998 - invalid on certain types of goods such as
clothing and carnival items.
The retailer asked the EU General Court to annul EUIPO's
decision, arguing that the trade mark logo was "descriptive",
not "distinctive", and that this should have prevented it from
being registered in the first place.
In its ruling the general court said the evidence submitted "is
not sufficient to show that the EU trade mark [...] was devoid
of distinctive character on the date of filing of the
application for registration.
"For the relevant public, that distinctiveness makes it possible
to associate, according to EUIPO, the goods covered by the trade
mark with DC Comics and to distinguish them from those of other
undertakings," it continued.
Commerciale Italiana Srl can appeal against the decision to the
EU Court of Justice.
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