Met dank aan Monty Python
Het BHIM heeft de registratie van het woord 'spam' door Hormel Foods Corporation geweigerd. Hormel, al in 1937 de bedenker van het woord spam als afkorting voor 'spiced ham', wilde het woord spam als merk registreren voor 'ongewenste e-mails'. Hiermee wilde Hormel voorkomen dat software bedrijven het woord spam gebruiken voor hun producten. "Ultimately, we are trying to avoid the day when the consuming public asks, 'Why would Hormel Foods name its product after junk e-mail?", aldus een woordvoerder van Hormel.
De Examiner weigerde de registratie, onder meer op grond van een google-search: "A search in the Internet through Google for the term SPAM revealed 214.000.000 hits. The same search gives 199.000.000 hits excluding the name ‘Hormel’. Thus it appears that the term SPAM is widely known in relation with the meaning given in the previous communication."
De Board of Appeal gaat met de Examiner mee: "Therefore, to the average individual familiar with the use of computers, inter alia for communication purposes -and a fortiori to professionals in field of activities which make extensive use of communication tools and networking- the expression SPAM unambiguously indicates that the goods or services are intended to guarantee SPAM-free communication. Thus the word SPAM seems particularly suitable to describe a characteristic of the services applied for, which is essential to the user, contrary to the applicant’s contention."
"In the absence of any additional element, the sign applied for lacks any fanciful element and is thus devoid of the minimum degree of distinctive character required, given that it will be understood by the relevant public merely as an indication of the object or purpose of the services applied for, and not as a mark fulfilling the function of indicating the commercial origin.
"The Board considers that the examiner rightly held that the word SPAM was descriptive and non distinctive for the services at issue."
Lees de uitspraak hier.
