Addition of 'praktik' element does not distinguish mark

Tescoma sro, one of the leading producers of domestic and professional kitchen utensils in the Czech Republic, has obtained the cancellation of a TESCOMA-PRAKTIK trademark registered by two Iranian individuals, Hassan Salehi Zadeh and Alireza Salehi Zadeh for goods in Classes 21, 35 and 39 of the Nice Classification.

Tescoma, the owner of the TESCOMA mark, brought a cancellation action against the trademark application, arguing that the mark was derived from its company name and had been registered in numerous countries. It further claimed that the addition of the word 'praktik' did not make the mark distinctive and would confuse consumers as to the source of the goods.

The defendants failed to appear in court. The court consequently found that the mark TESCOMA-PRAKTIK was partially similar to that of Tescoma and would cause confusion among consumers. It therefore ruled in favour of Tescoma and ordered the cancellation of the Iranian application.

The final court decision was published in the Iranian Official Gazette on March 25 2007.

Mohammad Badamchi, HAMI Legal Services, Tehran