Iceland Trademark Back In The Freezer

In trademark law, descriptive terms cannot be monopolized as trademarks. Such indications must remain available for everyone. For example, the word "apple" cannot be a trademark for apples. Since the landmark Chiemsee judgment (concerning the name of the largest lake in Bavaria), it has also been clear that geographical names in many cases cannot function as trademarks. With geographical designations, consumers will often assume that the word indicates the origin of the goods or services, not the brand name. Competitors offering products from that place must, of course, also be able to use the name freely.

This proved to be a stumbling block for the British supermarket chain Iceland, known mainly for frozen products. In 2014, its red-orange logo containing the word "Iceland" was registered at the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) for various foodstuffs and related retail services. Icelandic Trademark Holding, a company owned by the