Posted on 10/23/2003 2:26:53 PM PDT by Willie Green
For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.
BRUSSELS, Belgium -- The European Union's high court today upheld a decision to deny the world's leading chewing gum maker, Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co., permission to trademark its "Doublemint" brand across the EU.
The European Court of Justice backed a decision by the EU's trademark office that the combination of "double" and "mint" represented a description of the type of gum. It said the public interest was served when "descriptive signs or indications may be used freely by all."
The ruling by the Luxembourg-based court overturns an 2001 decision by a lower EU court that ruled in favor of Wrigley's complaint against the European trademark office's refusal to grant EU-wide protection for Doublemint.
Wrigley had argued that Doublemint is a new combination of words that helps consumers immediately identify the product.
The higher court said a different test is required. Companies first must make sure the new word doesn't have a meaning designating one of the goods' common characteristics. Otherwise, the trademark might deprive other businesses of the means to describe their products.
Wrigley still has a chance to contest the case, since the ruling sends the issue back to the lower court to re-examine the application on that stricter basis. But lawyers said it was unlikely to succeed, given the high court's decision.
Wrigley's brand has been trademarked in the United States for nearly a century.
The brand is also protected in Europe by national laws within most of the EU's 15 members, but like many companies Wrigley's was seeking to take advantage of EU rules designed to streamline trademark registration across the whole bloc.
"We are disappointed that we haven't been granted an EU wide trademark as this trademark would have been easier to administer, but this does not affect the full protection for our Doublemint trademark on a country-by-country basis," said Alistair Whalley, the company's European director of public affairs.
Gum-Chewers To Shell Out Extra Nickel
Wrigley's Price Increase First In 16 Years
October 23, 2003
The Associated Press
(NBC-5, Dallas/Ft. Worth)
CHICAGO -- People who chew gum are going to experience some inflation -- and it won't have anything to do with blowing bubbles.
Wrigley is raising some of its suggested retail prices by a nickel in the company's first increase in 16 years.
Prices for Wrigley's Spearmint, Doublemint, Juicy Fruit, Big Red and Winterfresh brands will go up in January. Meanwhile, the company plans to shave 5 cents off the suggested retail price of its Extra sugarfree gum.
The changes will put the prices for all those Wrigley brands at 30 cents for a five-stick pack.
Wrigley is the world's largest maker of chewing gum, with global sales of more than $2.7 billion. The company markets its gum in more than 150 countries.
Apple Computer.
Oracle.
Blue Man Group.
Microsoft.
Wrigley should manufacture and sell a new gum called "ONLY F***ING MORONS CHEW THIS." Sold exclusively in Europe, it would be Wrigley's best-selling gum ever, particularly in France.
These are the folks that would not allow us to use words like "brie" or "burgundy!"
It's good to know that the term "Eurotrash" cannot be trademarked but freely used by all.
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