EU handelsmerk afgewezen vanwege beledigend woord: NELEMAN JUST FUCKING GOOD WINE

EUIPO 25 oktober 2022, IEF 21294; In case R226/2022-4 (NELEMAN JUST FUCKING GOOD WINE) De Board of Appeal van het EUIPO heeft een aanvraag voor een EU-handelsmerkregistratie voor 'NELEMAN JUST FUCKING GOOD WINE' afgewezen, omdat het woord 'fucking' als beledigend en in strijd met aanvaarde beginselen van moraliteit wordt beschouwd onder artikel 7, lid 1, onder f) van de EUTMR. De Board of Appeal van het EUIPO oordeelde dat de intrinsieke betekenis van het woord vulgair en moreel beledigend is voor het relevante Engelstalige publiek. De beslissing benadrukte dat de registratie van een teken als merk afhankelijk is van specifieke criteria die van toepassing zijn op de feitelijke omstandigheden van elk afzonderlijk geval en dat de beoordeling van elke handelsmerkaanvraag streng en volledig moet zijn om ongepaste registraties te voorkomen.

13. The offensive character of a sign has to be assessed in each case taking into account the specific circumstances, i.e. contextual elements capable of shedding light on how the relevant public perceives the mark. For example, the Court of Justice has held that, in assessing whether the assimilation to the English phrase ‘Fuck you’ of the first part of the sign ‘Fack Ju Göhte’ would be perceived by the German- speaking public as morally unacceptable, the General Court could not rely solely on the intrinsically vulgar character of that English phrase without examining those contextual elements or setting out conclusively the reasons why it considered, despite those factors, that the German-speaking public at large perceives that sign as running counter to the fundamental moral values and standards of society when it is used as a trade mark (27/02/2020, C-240/18 P, Fack Ju Göhte, EU:C:2020:118, § 51-53).

14. When assessing whether a sign is ineligible for registration pursuant to Article 7(1)(f) EUTMR, it is irrelevant whether the sign consists exclusively of one or more components that are contrary to public policy or to accepted principles of morality or also contains other components. All that matters when it comes to assessing the facts is whether the component that is contrary to public policy or to accepted principles of morality will be perceived by the public (01/09/2011, R 168/2011-1, fucking freezing! by TÜRPITZ, § 17).

20. In the case at hand the examiner correctly focused on the English-speaking public.

31. In contrast, like in the so far repeatedly cited decision 01/09/2011, R 168/2011-1, fucking freezing! by TÜRPITZ, in the decision 23/02/2015, R 793/2014-2, FUCK CANCER, the Board confirmed the examiner’s decision and refused to register the sign. The Board held that, even if the expression ‘FUCK CANCER’ may be perceived as an expletive used against cancer, this does not alter the fact that the element ‘FUCK’ is an expression which the public with a normal level of sensitivity and tolerance, will perceive as a particularly vulgar and offensive expletive. As such, the Board found that use of the word ‘FUCK’, irrespective of the fact that it is followed by another word, makes the trade mark so offensive and indecent, that it must be considered to be contrary to accepted principles of morality within the meaning of Article 7(1)(f) EUTMR.

39. Finally, the assertion that the applicant has never experienced anyone being offended by the sign applied for and that the wine in question is one of its best sold wines which has received several awards, and that this supposedly indicates that the sign is not contrary to accepted principles of morality and is accepted by the public, misses the point. Apart from consisting of an unproven assertion, these allegations state merely that these wines are made in Spain and exported to fifteen countries, including eight in the European Union, and have won awards and praise, without proving any details of which countries these were, in particular whether they concerned native English-speaking relevant publics, or even whether the ‘NELEMAN JUST FUCKING GOOD WINE’ sign was accepted for registration as a trade mark in any EU Member States with English as an official language (instead it merely asserts that ‘all across Europe’ trade marks containing ‘fuck’ are ‘more and more accepted’, but then mentions only a few examples, none concerning Ireland, Malta or Cyprus). As such, these assertions do not bear scrutiny either.

47. Taking into account the above considerations, the appeal must be dismissed as unfounded. Due to its inclusion of the vulgar and offensive word ‘FUCKING’, which is immediately visible and striking, the sign applied for is contrary to accepted principles of morality and is therefore ineligible for registration pursuant to Article 7(1)(f) and 7(2) EUTMR.