19 Jan 2023
In December 2022, the European Union (EU) Intellectual Property Office (IPO) Grand Board of Appeal decided to cancel EU trade mark registrations belonging to Iceland Foods Limited (IFL) for ICELAND and the figurative mark (right). The Grand Board confirmed the earlier invalidity decisions stating that the marks in question would be perceived by the relevant public as indicating that the goods and services provided under the marks originate from Iceland, as opposed to from IFL. The decision (at publishing, still subject to appeal) could mean that IFL loses all of its EU-wide registered trade mark protection for its key brand; these are the only EU trade mark registrations belonging to IFL on record.