Your Name, Your Trade Mark

It is only natural and prudent to want to protect a personal brand by acquiring a trade mark, but there is a common misconception that using or registering a personal name or full names as a trade mark is an absolute right.

In trade mark law, distinctiveness and priority are paramount. Specifically, the law considers whether the chosen trade mark can distinguish the goods and services for which protection is sought and, in a battle of names, which name or trade mark was first used and/or registered as a source identifier.

These principles in relation to names were recently highlighted in two cases abroad.

Europe's trade mark authority recently refused registration for the name GEORGE ORWELL in relation to books and films on the grounds that it will be perceived as a descriptive indication of the subject matter (i.e. the literary works of George Orwell, the author) as opposed to being distinctive, which is the essence of a trade mark. The decision has the trade