Can Basketball Stripes Pattern Be Registered as 3D Trademarks ?
Israel, October 26, 2022.
Is it possible to register stripes pattern on basketball as 3D trademarks ? A recent decision of the Israeli Trademark Commissioner addressed this question.
KABUSHIKI KAISHA MOLTEN has filed a trademark application for stripes pattern on basketball in class 28 for basketballs and toys:
The trademark office refused the application for lack of distinctive character.
According to the applicant, the requested pattern has acquired distinctive character through extensive market use, and is therefore eligible for registration.
The Applicant requested a hearing.
The Trademark Commisioner, Dr. Ravia Israeli, was requested to decide whether stripes pattern on basketball eligible for registration as a 3D trademark.
The trademark commissioner ruled that the requested mark is a position mark, part of a product’s shape and design, therefore it bears a higher burden of proof.
The Trademark Commissioner has decided to follow the EU regulations regarding position marks:
“The factors to be taken into account when examining shape marks are also relevant for position marks. In particular, the examiner must consider whether the relevant consumer will be able to identify a sign that is different from the normal appearance of the products themselves. A further relevant consideration in dealing with position marks is whether the positioning of the mark upon the goods is likely to be understood as having a trade mark context.”
In other words, the consumer’s perception must be examined in relation to the design of the products in the relevant field, and whether the consumer will recognize the source of the goods when he notices the design that constitutes the requested mark.
The Applicant’s Stripe Pattern Lacks an Inherent Distinguishing Character
The trademark Commissioner has decided that the design of the applicant’s basketball is not unusual, unique or surprising in relation to designs in the field.
The design of the requested mark based on the pattern of the applicant’s stripes or the location of this design on the basketball does not constitute an independent element capable of directing the reasonable consumer in the field to the applicant. Therefore, it was decided that the mark lacks an inherent distinguishing character.
Has the applicant’s stripe pattern acquired a distinctive character ?
As a general rule, when coming to decide on the question of the acquisition of a distinctive character, one must examine the period of use of the mark, the degree of publicity it received and the effort invested by the owner of the mark in establishing a relationship between the product and the manufacturer.
Volume of sales is not enough to necessarily create the required connection between the mark and the origin of the goods.
The applicant has submitted sufficient evidence to prove a substantial market share, but applicant has failed to demonstrate that the totality of the evidence shows that the pattern of stripes on the applicant’s balls has acquired a distinctive character and is identified with the applicant as the source of the goods.
“I did not find that the presentation of the image of the basketballs, which bear the applicant’s striped pattern, in the various publications, turns the design in question into a trademark of a distinctive nature eligible for registration.
On the products presented in the publications, the applicant’s name “Molten” appears next to its stripe pattern. Therefore, it cannot be determined that the stripe pattern without the accompanying name “Molten” next to it acquired a distinctive character …”
Therefore, the application for the stripes pattern as a three-dimensional mark ( 3D Trademark) (as a shape of a product) was denied.
At the same time, the requested mark in its two-dimensional form (the circle mark) is eligible for registration and will be recorded in the register with the addition of a disclaimer stating that this registration does not grant the applicant an exclusive right to the three-dimensional image of the ball and the pattern of stripes imprinted on it.
The meaning is that the stripes may be protected as a standalone trademark but not as a shape or design of a product.
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Disclaimer: Nothing in the above shall be considered as legal opinion whatsoever.