Wine Law

3 distinguishing the goods or services of one undertaking from those of other undertakings; and (b) being represented on the Register of EUTMs, in a manner which enables the competent authorities and the public to determine the clear and precise subject matter of the protection afforded to its proprietor” . The list of signs that can be filed or used as a trademark is not limitative. The prior requirement 3 for graphical representation has been dropped by this new Regulation, which will help the registration of non-traditional trademarks and will create new kinds of trademarks. As with any commercial trademark, wine trademarks may consist of a fanciful name, a figurative element or a three-dimensional sign, but traditionally they are geographical trademarks that incorporate the denomination of origin, i.e. the name of the vineyard or of a tenant. Therefore, in the wine sector, a distinction has to be made between these two kinds of trademarks, which are of a different nature:  the former creates a new and independent right and identifies a producer,  the latter consolidates a pre-existing right by its registration as a trademark and is not detachable for the production it guarantees. As filed as a trademark, they are both subject to the EUTMR regarding general validity requirements, but the nature of traditional wine trademarks leads to specificities in their application. I.2. Distinctiveness: Core Function of a Trademark The conformity of the sign with requirements of Article 4 is not sufficient to have a valid trademark. Indeed, Article 7.1 EUTMR provides a list of absolute grounds for refusal of an EUTM, which are related mainly to the lack of distinctiveness [(b) and (e)], descriptiveness and ordinariness [(c) and (d)], deceptiveness (g) and protection of official signs of quality and origin [(j), (k) and (l)]. Articles 4 and 7 EUTMR rule that a trademark has to be capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one undertaking from those of other undertakings, i.e. to be distinctive. 3 Art. 4 of the EU Regulation 207/2009 of 26 February 2009.