Is a restaurant menu a proper specimen of use?

Moët & Chandon, Dom Pérignon, Laurent-Perrier and other world-class producers of champagne can no longer use this term to label their products in Russia. The new law passed on 2 July 2021 has caused a considerable upheaval among champagne producers but also consumers. Our legal team has taken a closer look into this dynamics of using geographical indicators.

#KimOhNo became a symbol of the backlash to Kim Kardashian’s attempt to register a trademark for her new line of shape wear, Kimono.

By definition, a trademark needs to display sufficient distinctiveness to identify the origin and ownership of the products and services. That means generic and descriptive words should be avoided at all costs. The landmark case in United States PTO v. Booking.com B.V, however, proves that a generic term combined with “.com” or another top-level domain can be registered as a trademark if there is sufficient evidence of consumer recognition.