A Cold Reception For "ICELAND"

In 2004, Iceland Foods Ltd secured registration at the EUIPO for the word mark ICELAND (002673374), and in 2014 for the figurative mark ICELAND (011565736), for various goods and services which included household appliances, food items, beverages, and retail services. In 2016 and 2018, the Applicants, Íslandsstofa (Promote Iceland), the Icelandic Ministry for Foreign Affairs, and SA – Business Iceland, applied to invalidate the registrations at the EUIPO. The invalidations were based on the registrations being descriptive of geographical origin and lacked distinctiveness under Articles 7(1)(b) and 7(1)(c) of the EU Trade Mark Regulation (EUTMR). The Applicants argued that Iceland Foods' EU trade marks for ICELAND prevented companies from Iceland from promoting Icelandic goods and services in other countries. In 2019, the invalidations were upheld at the Cancellation Division, and the registrations were declared invalid. Iceland Foods then appealed the decisions at the Grand Board of