Iceland is looking into how it might reclaim its name from British supermarket chain Iceland, which sells frozen foods in the UK and also operates stores in other countries around the world.
According to local news site Vísir the British supermarket chain has demonstrated against the slogan “Inspired by Iceland” in marketing campaigns by Promote Iceland, which is a public-private partnership aiming to improve the competitiveness of Icelandic companies in foreign markets.
The British supermarket chain has a trademark registration for the word Iceland in the European Union (EU).
Now Iceland’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Promote Iceland and SA-Business Iceland, which is a service organization for Icelandic businesses, are looking into the possibility of having the British supermarket chain’s trademark registration revoked in the EU.
This has been brewing for quite a while according to Vísir, as the matter was first discussed in the Icelandic parliament eleven years ago, when news broke about the British supermarket having sent in an application for a registration of the word Iceland to the British and the EU patent offices.
Iceland, the supermarket chain, was founded in 1969 and operates number of stores in the UK, where it has an approximate 1.8% share of the food market, it also runs a store in Iceland and has outlets in nine other countries around the world. The main emphasis is on frozen foods, including prepared meals and vegetables but non-frozen grocery items such as produce, meat, dairy, and dry goods are also available.
A country name as a trademark?
This is an interesting situation. How come it’s possible to register a country name as a trademark?
According to trademark laws, marks cannot be registered if they are descriptive of a product’s origin or character, and a country name would, on first view, appear to be prohibited from registration.
UK law office Azrights Solicitors, which specialises in intellectual property rights, offers this clarification and sites the name of the British supermarket chain as an example:
“Where the geographical significance of the country name can be displaced then a trade mark may be registered. This might happen through either extensive use of the mark or by conceptual disassociation.
Regarding extensive use, customers using the ICELAND store do not think that the goods come from Iceland as a country, therefore, the geographical origin of the name ICELAND in this case is displaced.”
What do you think? Can this create confusion, and should EU revoke the supermarket’s registration? Please comment below.
Iceland is looking into how it might reclaim its name from British supermarket chain Iceland, which sells frozen foods in the UK and also operates stores in other countries around the world.
According to local news site Vísir the British supermarket chain has demonstrated against the slogan “Inspired by Iceland” in marketing campaigns by Promote Iceland, which is a public-private partnership aiming to improve the competitiveness of Icelandic companies in foreign markets.
The British supermarket chain has a trademark registration for the word Iceland in the European Union (EU).
Now Iceland’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Promote Iceland and SA-Business Iceland, which is a service organization for Icelandic businesses, are looking into the possibility of having the British supermarket chain’s trademark registration revoked in the EU.
This has been brewing for quite a while according to Vísir, as the matter was first discussed in the Icelandic parliament eleven years ago, when news broke about the British supermarket having sent in an application for a registration of the word Iceland to the British and the EU patent offices.
Iceland, the supermarket chain, was founded in 1969 and operates number of stores in the UK, where it has an approximate 1.8% share of the food market, it also runs a store in Iceland and has outlets in nine other countries around the world. The main emphasis is on frozen foods, including prepared meals and vegetables but non-frozen grocery items such as produce, meat, dairy, and dry goods are also available.
A country name as a trademark?
This is an interesting situation. How come it’s possible to register a country name as a trademark?
According to trademark laws, marks cannot be registered if they are descriptive of a product’s origin or character, and a country name would, on first view, appear to be prohibited from registration.
UK law office Azrights Solicitors, which specialises in intellectual property rights, offers this clarification and sites the name of the British supermarket chain as an example:
“Where the geographical significance of the country name can be displaced then a trade mark may be registered. This might happen through either extensive use of the mark or by conceptual disassociation.
Regarding extensive use, customers using the ICELAND store do not think that the goods come from Iceland as a country, therefore, the geographical origin of the name ICELAND in this case is displaced.”
What do you think? Can this create confusion, and should EU revoke the supermarket’s registration? Please comment below.
