The trade mark "Speicherstadt" had been applied for at the German Patent and Trade Mark Office for a variety of goods and services in different classes. The German Patent and Trade Mark Office refused the registration on the grounds that the trade mark lacked the distinctive character required for registration.
The Federal Patent Court confirmed this decision. It stated that the grounds for refusal of registration of the name applied for were lack of distinctiveness under Section 8(2)(1) Trade Mark Law and descriptiveness of goods and services under Section 8(2)(2) Trade Mark Law.
The term would immediately and obviously be associated with Hamburg's Speicherstadt, located on the edge of the harbour and one of the largest and best-known sights of this city. Not only place names themselves but also designations of well-known parts of the city could constitute geographical designations ineligible for protection. In this sense, "Speicherstadt" was also a geographical designation, even though up to now there had been practically no residential population there, but it was a complex of - predominantly historic - warehouses in brick construction. In these multi-storey warehouses, at least on the upper floors not at risk of flooding, almost all products could be stored and traded at any stage of processing.
Reference number of the BPatG: 24 W (pat) 76/08
Source: Press release of the Federal Patent Court
Goldberg Attorneys at Law
Attorney at Law Michael Ullrich, LL.M. (Information Law)
Specialist lawyer for information technology law (IT law)
E-mail: info@goldberg.de
