Here’s an introduction to a piece published on Legal Desire.com
I wonder if they’ll be smell marking bacon or the smell of old books in the future – who knows ?
The objective of this research paper is to bring out a cross jurisdictional analysis of Smell marks across the globe. The main objective of Intellectual Property Law is to protect creations like technological advancements or protect the economic status of an inventor of an innovation. With increase in innovation, the inventors are seeking new methods to protect their intellectual property. One such is the smell mark, which still persists with ambiguities. The author through this research paper wants to highlight an aspect of science in law and also about the ambiguities faced by smell marks in law. The author seeks to present an analysis of laws related to smell marks in nations such as The US, UK, Singapore and India.
INTRODUCTION
In recent years, Trademark has significantly developed and its branches are covering far and wide frontiers. With the increase in the boom of industries, a wide scope for innovation is created and as a result, industries have devised new methods to protect their intellectual assets. One such unconventional Trademarks are Smell Marks, which have evolved as a result of manufacturers giving smells or scents to their products in order to make them distinct from other similar products.[1] Human beings, the highly evolved species, possess an olfactory system that is capable of discriminating a wide range of odours. A human nose is capable of distinguishing roughly 1 trillion odours and by understanding how humans process the complex information contained in the scents or memories of scents, offers a window into how extraordinary human brains function.[2] Experiments performed by various scientists all over the world demonstrates that smells form a part of our memory.
The intangibility of a Trademark can be observed when an unconventional trademark such as a smell mark is considered. Smell marks, which are also known as olfactory marks where smell acts as a distinctive feature to differentiate the products or services of the producer. The trademark arena is always developing and a large value of ambiguity still persists when it comes to smell trademarks in India. For a long time, the possibility of protecting a scent as a trademark has been the subject of decisions of the European Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), EU courts as well as foreign courts.[3] . However, with the passage of time, not only logos and symbols are being associated with goods and services but also sound, taste, smell, texture, hologram, motion, shape of the goods or services.
CAN AN AROMA BE TRADEMARKED?
The main objective of Intellectual Property Law is to protect creations like technological advancements or protect the economic status of an inventor of an innovation. Inventors, to make their products more distinctive have given smells or scents to the product.
One of the finest examples of a registered smell mark is that of the Cosco tennis ball. In 1999, a remarkable proposition arrived before the Community Trademark Office in the jurisdiction of the European Union whereupon it had to debate and decide on whether it could allow registration of the smell of freshly cut grass to serve as a trademark for a brand of tennis balls.[4] The company’s products had already acquired distinctiveness by then, hence the Board approved the appeal that the smell of the freshly cut grass is a legitimate and appropriate trademark for the identification of the tennis balls.
Read the full article at. https://legaldesire.com/smell-marks-intellectual-property-a-cross-jurisdictional-analysis/
