There was a highly unusual trade mark opposition matter in the
USA recently. The case of In re Coscentra B.V involved a
comparison of two perfume bottles in the shape of a male torso.
A company applied to register a male torso-shaped perfume bottle
as a trade mark for perfumery. The application was refused on the
basis of an existing trade mark registration for a male
torso-shaped perfume bottle covering perfumery. This registration
is, of course, for the well-known Jean Paul Gaultier fragrance.
image source
The issue was very simple: were the two male torso trade marks
confusingly similar? The company that filed the later application
obviously argued that they weren't, pointing to various
differences – these arguments are set out below and, for the
sake of clarity and brevity, we've paraphrased them
somewhat:
