Brinkhof acts as advocate in first hearing ever of Grand Board of Appeal of EUIPO

On Friday 9 September 2022, Brinkhof acted as advocate for the British supermarket chain Iceland Foods in the first ever hearing of the Grand Board of Appeal of the European trademark office, EUIPO. The case regards a cancellation claim against Iceland Foods European trademark registrations for their name ICELAND. The claims is made by several Icelandic governmental organisations which claim that the name of their country, not of any other country, should be registrable as a trademark. Iceland Foods operates its now more than 1,000 stores already since 1970 and has a strong brand reputation of its own. Understandably it seeks to defend its trademarks. For the EUIPO this case had such importance that for the first time since its creation in 1994 it ordered a hearing of this type. Brinkhof is proud to have been part of this first hearing.