The ECJ (in handing down its first decision in respect of an appeal from the Community Trade Mark Office based in Alicante, Spain) has decided that the mark "BABY-DRY" is capable of being registrable as a Community Trade Mark ("CTM") in respect of "disposable diapers".
The decision contains extremely useful dicta as to what sorts of descriptive word-only marks are capable of being registered as a CTM. As readers may already be aware, historically it has always been difficult to obtain registrations for descriptive word-only marks, either as a CTM or a UK trade mark. The decision can therefore be viewed as something of a landmark.
As a result of the decision, a flood of CTM applications seeking to register "descriptive-style" word-only trade marks can be expected in the near future.
