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Fanciful Trademarks in Colombia
By VERA ABOGADOS
Signs comprised of one or more words in a foreign language, not widely recognized as common knowledge, may be categorized as fanciful trademarks. Consequently, the registration of such signs is allowed.
The ruling comes after the registration of the trademark "NUTRIDREAMS" was approved by the Superintendency of Industry and Commerce of Colombia (SIC). This registration was sought for the purpose of distinguishing products of Class 30 of the Nice International Classification. The decision was reached after the SIC established that there were no significant orthographic or phonetic similarities between "NUTRIDREAMS" and a pre-existing commercial trademark of a third party, the slogan "NUTRE TUS SUEÑOS."
The SIC stated that "nutre" and "nutri" are commonly used and, consequently, deemed weak for the protection of products. And while the word "DREAMS" translates to "SUEÑOS" in Spanish, its meaning is not universally known or commonly used in Colombia. Therefore, it was considered a fanciful trademark and eligible for registration.
Vera Abogados
VERA ABOGADOS ASOCIADOS S.A.-, is a Colombian law firm with specialized lawyers, Founded more than 40 years ago, by Jorge E. Vera Vargas, Doctor in Law and Political Sciences of the La Gran Colombia University in Bogota D.C., Colombia. At present, with principal offices in the city of Bogota D.C., and offices in the cities of Cali, Medellin, Barranquilla, at national level, and at an international level in Ecuador and Panama.
The Firm is today a reference in the Andean Community, and it makes part of important international affiliations such as PRAGMA, EEIG. International Network of Law Firm, The International Trademark Association (INTA), Asociación Interamericana de Propiedad Industrial (ASIPI), Associação Brasileira da Propriedade Intelectual (ABPI), and the Chamber of Industrial Property Agents of the Republic of Argentina(CAPIRA).
VERA ABOGADOS ASOCIADOS S.A. offers professional services to prestigious Colombian and foreign companies in the following juridical areas: Industrial property, Trademarks, Patents, Copyrights, New Technologies, Disloyal Competition, Commercial Practices, Sanitary Rights, Community Right, Administrative law, Tax Law, Corporate Right and Foreign Investment and Business Rights.
The Firm offers of equal way a service of integral consultancy in Foreign Commerce, Business administration, Finance and Accountancy. The team is made up of specialized lawyers in each of the workspaces and expert multilingual professionals (Spanish, English and French) that respond with efficiency and competitiveness to the needs and demands of our customers around the world.