EU General Court Finds Scotch Maker’s “Royal Shakespeare” Trademark Invalid

The European Union (EU) General Court has affirmed a ruling of the Board of
Appeal of the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (Trade Marks
and Designs) (OHIM) and dismissed the application of a beverage company
to register “Royal Shakespeare” as a word mark for its scotch whiskey. Jackson
Int’l Trading Co. Kurt D. Brühl GmbH & Co. KG v. OHIM, Case T-60/10 (Gen.
Ct., decided July 6, 2012). According to the court, the Royal Shakespeare
Co. had registered “Royal Shakespeare Company” three years before Jackson
International sought to register its mark, the theater company’s mark has a
reputation before the public at large and not among an elite as argued by
Jackson International, and the beverage maker’s use of the mark would take
“unfair advantage of the distinctive character or the repute of the earlier trade
mark.”