Just published is a decision issued on April 9, 2010, by the Paris Court of Instance which upheld the registered mark of LVMH for the clasp shown below to be distinctive. For the Court, that shape is not imposed by the function of the articles it applies to. It even can refer to the V letter which is one of the initials of its owner so as to indicate the origin of the products.
The distinctinvess of that mark has already been disputed. In this decision, the Court reiterated its past positive position as to its disctinctiveness. We are uncertain whether the outcome would have been the same before the OHIM given the higher standards applied on the Community level.
