In five decisions which, as of today, had not yet been posted on the OHIM Board of Appeal web pages, Ferrero oHG mbH has been successful in its applications to annul the decisions of the Cancellation Division and to have five Community trade marks owned by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (Fifa) declared invalid for descriptiveness and lack of distinctive character.

The five marks are (i) WORLD CUP 2006, (ii) GERMANY 2006, (iii) WM 2006 (WM being the German word Weltmeisterschaft, meaning World Cup or Championship), (iv) WORLD CUP GERMANY and (v) WORLD CUP 2006 GERMANY.

The cases which were not joined are numbered R 1466 to 1470/2005-1.

The grounds upon which the registrations were challenged was that the signs in question were descriptive and lacked distinctive character. The Cancellation Division presumably felt confident that this was not so, but the Board of Appeal, annulling all five of its decisions in rulings of 30-odd pages in length, thought otherwise.

All IP specialists should congratulate the Board of Appeal for having the courage (i) to refuse the request to convene a Grand Board to hear these cases, since they raised no issue of legal difficulty and (ii) to apply Community trade mark law as it stands, fairly and impartially, in the face of some pretty vigorous assertions from the Community trade mark proprietor.

Please note the wide range of goods and services for which Fifa sought protection of their marks. I wasn't expecting to find any of these on the list:
Class 5 – feminine hygienic products; fungicides, herbicides; deodorants for non personal use.
Class 8 – electric or non-electric razors, including razor blades; depilatory devices; tweezers; curling tongs; kitchen scissors.
Class 10 - nursing bottles; condoms.
Class 31 – Foodstuff for animals; fresh berries; fresh vegetables; flowers; litter for animals.
Class 34 – Matches; lighters; cigarette cases, ashtrays, smoker's articles made of non-precious metal; cigarettes; tobacco.

The real importance of these decisions lies not in these marks but in the message that organisers of sports events in the future will be receiving.

If GERMANY 2008 does not meet the criteria for valid registration, will LONDON 2012, for example, fare any better?