Game over for Louis Vuitton’s chequerboard

[09/12/2022]

The EU General Court recently put an end to the legal saga involving Louis Vuitton’s figurative mark representing the famous chequerboard pattern.

After recognizing the lack of inherent distinctive character of the pattern in 2020 (10/06/2020, T 105/19), the GC considered on 19 October 2022 that the trademark had not acquired either distinctiveness through use in the whole territory of the European Union and confirmed the cancellation decision issued by the Boards of Appeal (19/10/2022, T-275/21).

The judges found that that evidence submitted was insufficient to establish the distinctive character acquired through the use of the mark in Lithuania, Latvia, Slovakia, Slovenia or Bulgaria.

This decision highlights again the difficulties met by “atypical” trademarks in Europe.

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