“Black Friday” as a trademark to be deleted?

On 26 September 2019, the Federal Patent Court in Munich will hear the deletion of the controversial trade mark ‘Black Friday’ (file number: 30 W (pat) 26/18) and thus investigate whether the term ‘Black Friday’ is a commonly used term which lacks the necessary distinctive character. See also this article.

On 28 March 2018, the German Patent and Trademark Office decided to delete the word mark “Black Friday”. With the decision, the DPMA upheld the legal view that the term ‘Black Friday’ cannot be protected as a trade mark. The DPMA acknowledged that the trade mark should never have been registered, since the term ‘Black Friday’ is perceived only as a reference to discount or offer promotions carried out once in the year at the end of November by, in particular, online shops, and therefore the protection of a trade mark is lacking in distinctive character.

The trademark proprietor appealed against the DPMA decision to the Federal Patent Court, which is why the cancellation has not yet become legal and the trademark has not yet been deleted from the trade mark register. At the hearing on 26 September, the Federal Patent Court will now decide whether or not the cancellation of the Black Friday trade mark decided by the DPMA was rightly issued.