In The National Aluminium & Profile Co (foreign
company) v Extal Ltd (MCA (Jerusalem)
35620-02-16, November 1
2016), the Jerusalem District Court affirmed the deputy trademark
registrar's refusal to register
a mark consisting of a lengthwise slit along aluminium
profiles following an opposition by the owner of
a long-used similar
mark.
The deputy trademark registrar held that a pre- Agreement on
Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs)
statutory provision which bars registration in the event of unfair
competition continues to protect unregistered marks,
notwithstanding the enactment of a specific protection for
well-known marks following TRIPs, and that this provision also
applies where the reputation of the mark does not afford it
the status of a well-known trademark. The court upheld the
refusal to register a mark that was found to be confusingly
similar to an unregistered mark that had acquired considerable
reputation in the market, but
