Jane Foulser McFarlane pinpoints the best way of successfully registering a sound as a trade mark
An application made by the literary estate of Tarzan author, Edgar Rice Burroughs, to register the famous Tarzan yell as a trade mark has recently been rejected by the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) (OHIM).
The application to register the trade mark has apparently been in the court arena for the past 10 years, and following the recent decision of the OHIM, the author’s estate has issued a fresh application, which now includes a sound file. MGM is also attempting to register as a trade mark the lion’s roar which is heard in the opening credits of its films. So, when can a sound be successfully registered as a trade mark?
A trade mark is defined in the Trade Marks Act 1994 (TMA 1994), s 1 as any sign capable of being represented graphically which is capable of distinguishing goods or services of one undertaking from those of other undertakings.
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