Polo/Ralph Lauren overturn polo player on a bicycle trademark decision
Fashion brand Ralph Lauren’s Polo range has won an EU court battle to overturn an earlier decision to grant a trademark registration for a polo player on a bicycle motif on behalf of OHIM.
The clash erupted over the use of a figurative sign which Ralph Lauren claimed infringed upon their trademark of a Polo player riding a horse.
A judgment posted by the General Court of the EU noted: “The intervener (Polo/Ralph Lauren) submits that the Board of Appeal did not err in finding that the signs at issue were dissimilar overall. In particular, the intervener states that the only similarity between the two signs at issue is the polo mallet held by the player, which is, however, raised in opposite directions.
“Any other similarities between the signs at issue, in particular those put forward by the applicant in its written pleadings, are negligible or trivial. By contrast, the other elements of the signs at issue, such as the bicycle or the horse are significant.
“Furthermore, the intervener submits that the representation of a polo player on a bicycle conceptualises an emergent urban sport, which is played on tennis courts or in school playgrounds. That sport is therefore different visually and conceptually from the traditional sport of polo.”
Following the ruling OHIM has been ordered to pay legal costs incurred by Polo/Ralph Lauren.