EU courts clear trademark 3-D bottle

EU courts have ruled that three-dimensional packaging can be registered as a European trademark – if its shape is integral to the retailed product.

The Thursday ruling vindicates German products giant Henkel, who asked the European Court of Justice to decide that its company bottle containing liquid detergent could be trademarked under EU measures.

The court ruled that the bottle could be filed as a trademark because the product in question - that is, ‘liquid’ detergent - can only be packaged in a three-dimensional form - that is, stored in a bottle.

Henkel’s original application to the German trademark office was refused on the grounds that the packaging was too similar to that used for all such goods - meaning it was difficult to distinguish Henkel’s products from rival brands.

On appeal, when Henkel claimed the bottle did have ‘brand recognition’, the German courts referred the matter to the Luxembourg-based court for an interpretation under EU community law.

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