On 27 March 2013, the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI) issued a very important and innovative decision in Mexico, concerning the cancellation of a cosmetic trademark (class 3), ruling in favour of the designation of origin “Champagne”, considering that such trademark contained a false indication of provenance as well as a false indication as to the very nature of the product.
In a letter on 31 October 2012, the “Institut National de l’Origine et de la Qualité” (INAO) and of the “Comité Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagne” (CICV) had requested the administrative cancellation of the trademark 1247039 “STRAWBERRIES & CHAMPAGNE”, property of VICTORIA’S SECRET STORES BRAND MANAGEMENT, INC, claiming that it contained a false indication of provenance as well as a false indication as to the very nature of the product. This based on article 90 of the sections X and XIV of the Mexican Intellectual Property Law. Despite the three elements contained in the trademark – “STRAWBERRIES”,”&”and ”CHAMPAGNE” – the IMPI considered that the trademark strength lied mainly on the word Champagne. In the mind of consumers such word establishes a link with the origin and the characteristics of the product. As those did not correspond to the ones of the designation of origin Champagne, the Institute decided to cancel the trademark at issue.
This summary has been extracted from an “oriGIn Alert”, which is a service reserved exclusively to oriGIn members.
