Audio branding generates high profit when it becomes a famous trademark, thus, the registration and protection of trademark is of great significance. The EU and US admitted sound trademark in advance. To analyze the criterion of registration in those two jurisdictions can provide useful legislative experience for the study of sound trademark. Based on the comparative study, we thus can identify critical factors which influence an audio branding becomes a sound trademark.
Aaker, D. A., & Joachimsthaler, E. (2000). The Brand Relationship Spectrum: The Key to the Brand Architecture Challenge. California Management Review, 42, 8-23.
About the Evaluation of Confusion, see Franzosi, 300-318.
Article 4, CTMR and Article 2 of the Directive.
Article 7(1) (e) CTMR.
Boulware, M. A., & Baker McKenzie LLP. Emerging Protection for Non-Traditional Trademarks: Product Packaging and Design.
Bronner, K., & Hirt, R. (2009). Audio Branding: Brands, Sound and Communication. Baden-Baden: Nomos, Edition Reinhard Fischer.
Case C-10/89, HAG II [1990], ECR I-03711, 14.
Case C-144/06, Henkel v OHIM, [2007], ECR I-8109. Judgement of 08/05/2012, T-331/10, ‘Surface covered with black dots’, para. 24.
Case C-25/05 P, Storck v OHIM, [2006], ECR I-5719.
Case C-251/95, Sabel BV v Puma AG, para. 9. See also 10th Recital-Harmonisation Directive.
Case C-251/95, Sabel BV v Puma AG. See also Case C-342/97.Case C-251/95, Sabel BV v Puma AG. See also Case C-342/97, Lloyd Schuhfabrik Meyer & Co. GmbH v Klijsen Handel BV9.
Case C-265/09 P, OHIM v Borco, [2010] ECR I-08265, See Paragraphs 42 and 44: “[the OHIM] Argues That the Average Consumer Is a Legal Concept and That the Examination of the Distinctive Character of a Sign Must Be Carried Out Independently of Any Actual Use of That Sign on the Market.
Case C-473/01Procter &Gamble v OHIM, [2004], ECR I-5173.
Case C-49/02, Heidelberger Bauchemie GmbH, 2004 E.T.M.R. 99, 13.
Case C-98/11 P, Lindt & Sprüngli v OHIM, [2012], paragraph 47.
Case R-781/1999-4, 2004 E.T.M.R. 34.
da Silva Lopes, T., & Duguid, P. (2010). Trademarks, Brands, and Competitiveness. Routledge International Studies in Business History.
Davis, S. M. (2000). Brand Asset Management Summary and Analysis (pp. 97-123). June 9th.
Dejonge, J. (1996). Harley Seeks Protection for Its “Spudly” Sound: Distinctive Motorcycle Engine Revs Up Trademark Concerns. The Seattle Times, March 28.
Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc., Reg. No. 2210506.
Eight Things You Need to Know about the New Trademark Law, China Law & Practice, Nov, 2013.
Findings of the CJEU:”It Must Be Noted That the Requirement to Carry Out a Priori Examination of the Distinctive Character of a Sign Does Not Preclude That Examination Being Based on the Facts.” Case T-508/08, Bang & Olufsen v OHIM, [2011], paragraph 71.
Franus, N. (2007). Building Brand Value through the Strategic Use of Sound. AIGA. org. http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/building-brand-value-through-sound
Harley-Davidson, Inc. v. Selectra International Designs, 861 F.Supp. 754, 754 (E.D. Wis. 1994b).
Harley-Davidson, Inc. v. William Morris D/B/A Bill’s Custom Cycles, 19 F.3d 142, 142 (3d Cir. 1994a).
Hart, T., Fazzani, L., & Clark, S. (2009). Intellectual Property Law (5th ed., Chapter 8, p. 79). London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Hawes & Dwight, Supra Note 90, § 3.20.
Hawes, J., & Dwight, A. (2004). Practitioner’s Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure § 808.01.
Hidaka, S. et al. (2004). A Sign of the Times? A Review of Key Trade Mark Decisions of the European Court of Justice and Their Impact upon National Trade Mark Jurisprudence in the EU. The Trademark Reporter, 94, 1105-1124.
In re E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., 476 F.2d 1357 (CCPA 1973). U.S. Trademark Reg. No. 1395550.
International Trade Mark Association. https://www.inta.org
Judgement of 06/10/2011, T-508/08, “Representation of a loudspeaker”, para. 44.
Kahn, E. W. (1998). On the Net, Unusual Marks Gain in Importance, the National Reporter C-13.
Keller, K. L. (2008). Strategic Brand Management. 164.
Landes, W. M., & Posner, R. A. (1988). The Economics of Trademark Law. The Trademark Reporter, 78, 267-270. (explaining “SANKA designates a decaffeinated coffee made by General Foods Corp.; XEROX the dry copiers made by Xerox Corporation.... A stylized penguin is the symbol of a line of paperback books published by Penguin Books... “).
Lanham Act § 45, 15 U.S.C. 1127 (2000).
New Trademarks Issued for Sounds (2015). Movements under Revised Law. The Japan Times News, Oct. 28.
Pisarsky, N. (2008). NOTE: PoTAYto-PoTAHto—Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off Trademark Protection of Product Sounds. Connecticut Law Review, 40, 797-806.
Qualitex Co. v. Jacobsen Products Co., Inc., 514 U.S. 159 (1995).
Roth, M. E. (2005-2006). Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue: A New Tradition in Non-Traditional in Non-Traditional Trademark Registrations. Cardozo Law Review, 27, 457.
Sapherstein, M. B. The Trademark Registrability of the Harley-Davidson Roar: A Multimedia Analysis. Boston College Intellectual Property & Technology Forum.
Shield Mark, 2004 E.T.M.R. 33, T 55.
Sieckmann (2003). E.T.M.R. 37, 91 48-49, 51. Ascertaining the Scope of Protection Is Important to Each of These Groups for Different Reasons.
Smell and Sound Marks to Be Introduced, Marinade Concerning Asia, 21 August, 2012.
Statistics on Community Trade Marks, 2012. http://oami.europa.eu/ows/rw/pages/OHIM/statistics.en.do
Survey Conducted by Managing Intellectual Property. The Truth about Trade Marks, Managing Intell. PROP., May 2004, at 32.
The Trademark Rule of Examining Procedure 1202.15.
The US Patent & Trademark Office’s (PTO) TMEP 1202.02 (a) (v).
The Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Samara Bros., Inc., 529 U.S. 205, 211, n* (2000).
Thomas Mccarthy, J. (2004). Trademarks and Unfair Competition § 2:3 (4th ed.).
Treasure, J. (2009). The 4 Ways Sound Affects Us. http://www.ted.com/talks/julian_treasure_the_4_ways_sound_affects_us.html
TRIPS Art. 1(3).
TRIPS Art. 1, 15, 25.
TRIPS Art. 25(1).
Troussel, J.-C., & Meuwissen, S. (2012). Because Consumers Do Actually Eat Trade Marks: An Assessment of Current Law Regarding Non-Conventional Trade Marks in the European Union. ERA Forum, 13, 423-438. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12027-012-0272-x
TTAB (1978). In re General Electric Broadcasting Co., Inc., 199 U.S.P.Q. 560.
U.S. Trademark Reg. No. 3288274.
Wikipedia (2006). Sound Trademark. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_trademark#cite_note-1