Intellectual Property - Descriptive Trademarks Refused

As of 1 January 1996 the Benelux Trademark Act (BTA), which covers The Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg, has been amended to implement the 1988 EC-directive on the Harmonisation of Trademark Legislation.

Of old, the BTA is based on a first-to-file system and trademark rights can be invoked as of the date of application. In addition, there is no opposition procedure, and as a consequence the BTA has always provided a relatively simple and quick way of obtaining a trademark registration.

Since 1 January 1996 the Benelux Trademark Office may refuse a registration of a trademark, inter alia if it is descriptive of the goods or services for which it has been registered. The first experiences with the system seem to indicate that the BTO is applying rather strict criteria for descriptiveness.