Absolute grounds for refusal are grounds for refusal such as lack of distinctive character; Descriptive information to be kept free for general use; a national emblem included in the mark; There is a violation of good morals or public order or other obstacles to trademark registration.

Trademark Protectability

The absolute barriers to protection are called absolute barriers to protection because, unlike the relative barriers to protection (relative barriers to protection are the barriers to protection if someone has already registered a trademark), they exist independently of the legal positions of third parties.

Absolute obstacles to protection are essentially the protection of the interests of the general public, and that applies in particular to competition. Trademarks that have been registered against the absolute grounds for refusal (for example, terms that are common in an industry and that must be available to everyone) can be deleted.

This usually happens through the respective patent offices or through competitors or an everyone’s application, which can be made by anyone.

Brands with a descriptive character such as “good hairdresser” for hairdresser, “delicious chocolate” for chocolate, “quick haircut”, “24 hour fitness center”, “smart consulting” or similar descriptive information cannot be registered as trademarks.

Every competitor must also be able to use this one name and therefore these names cannot be approved as trademarks due to absolute protection barriers.

In addition to the direct description of a service or product, there is usually no individual mark of origin if the brand name has such a strong factual reference to the goods or services that one normally cannot believe that an individual mark of origin is a brand.

Even if these have been approved as trademarks, it is possible to have them deleted. Protected geographical information, such as is usual for wine, sausage products, cheese or other foods, is excluded from this.

The absolute barriers to protection refer above all to trademarks that consist exclusively of descriptive information or symbols.

However, a trademark can certainly be designed by using modifications to describe details, for example by combining two word components or two words or a modification takes place in a similar manner. In this way, the user can already be given an impression of what the brand is about without falling under the absolute protection value.

Even if your trademark should now fall under the absolute barriers to protection, for example by describing the activity you do, we can help you to modify the trademark in a form so that it can be approved as a trademark.