“Oktoberfest”

• 1. The German term OKTOBERFEST cannot obtain protection for the goods and services figuring in the list of goods and services of the mark applied for, owing to the existence of absolute grounds for refusal determined in Art. 2(2)(a) Trade Mark Act.

• 2. According to Art. 2(2) Trade Mark Act, a mark is excluded from protection if it has no distinctive character, especially if it consists exclusively of signs and data that can be used in commerce for indicating the kind, quality, quantity, destination, value, geographical origin, the time of production of the goods or of rendering of the service or other characteristics, or if these have become customary in the current language or in the established practices of the trade.

• 3. Without a special graphic design, colour, device or other element providing originality, a word itself is not always suitable for identifying a trade mark, which is an indispensable requirement for a trade mark. A mark is prohibited from protection when it exhibits an adequately direct and specific relationship with the goods and services in question and the relevant public can immediately detect the description of a characteristic of the given goods or services without any further reflection.

• 4. From the point of view of protection, the interests motivating the applicant to acquire exclusive rights have no significance.