The Absurdity Returns: Iceland Foods Appeals Invalidation Of Its Trademark

I really cannot believe we're back here. Way back in 2016 we wondered aloud who gets to trademark the word Iceland". Confused? Well, Iceland Foods is a grocery in the UK that's been around since the 1970s. Iceland is also the name of a sovereign nation established in the early 1900s. In 2016, Iceland Foods finally got a trademark on its brand name after years of trying. It then chose to block a trademark application in the EU for Inspired by Iceland". The applicant of that mark was the nation of Iceland. The nation, as you might assume, was not pleased and petitioned EUIPO to invalidate the Iceland Foods mark entirely, which it did in 2019. The first part of the title of that last post I did was The End of Absurdity.

Absurdity, as it turns out, does not die so easily. Iceland Foods has decided to appeal the decision to the Grand Board of the EUIPO, which started hearing the case a week or so ago.

Iceland Foods' managing director Richard Walker has said the supermarket will vigorously defend" its intellectual property rights, Grocery Gazette reports.

We have traded successfully under our name in the UK since 1970, and today it is one of the UK's most recognised brands. We had sincerely hoped that we would be able to avoid last week's hearing and reach an amicable agreement. While we will vigorously defend Iceland Foods' intellectual property rights where there is any risk of confusion between our business and those of another business, this would not restrict Icelandic producers describing goods or services as coming from Iceland."

That last comment is belied by the grocery's decision to previously block trademark applications made by Iceland to do exactly that. Those representing Iceland likewise don't trust Walker's company to keep to its word.

Margret Hjalmarsdottir a the senior lawyer of the Icelandic Intellectual Property Office said that if the country lost the case it would mean that Icelandic companies might not be able to use the word Iceland in their trademarks to identify the products they are selling."

Which is all, or should be, entirely besides the point. At the end of the day, the EU granting a trademark to a private UK company for the name of a member nation in the European Economic Area is roughly as absurd as a thing could possibly be. On top of that, the rules for trademarking the names of geographic areas are supposed to be very, very stringent. And add to that that trademarks are chiefly meant to be a source identifier, whereas granting the mark back to Iceland Foods is potentially confusing as to the source of its goods (does it come from Iceland?), and this is all absolute parody that happens to be real.

Hopefully EUIPO will shut this down, though the commentary appears to be that that could take months, or longer.