The Consejo Regulador del Tequila, A. C., is an interprofessional organization comprising all actors and production staff associated with Tequila production. The aim of the CRT is to promote the culture and quality of this beverage that has gained an important place among the national identity symbols. CRT also owns the Tequila geographic indication (GI) in many countries.
The client received a total provisional refusal of protection in Ukraine for the international registration ‘TEQUILA' based on absolute grounds. Namely, the UA IP Office stated that the sign shall not be registered as it consists exclusively of a descriptive term for the relevant kind of goods - ‘TEQUILA’.
In the interests of the client, we succeeded in developing the strategy of the provisional refusal overcoming; prepared and filed a response, and as a result, the client received a statement of grant of protection in Ukraine.
This case stands out from the standard type of provisional refusal cases in that, in the sense of the trademark law, the UA IP Office had strong grounds for the provisional refusal. However, the trademark team was able to argue in favour of the client’s position and interests and prove that the client is entitled to hold the ‘TEQUILA’ trademark. This is a good example of IPStyle’s ability to provide out-of-the-box solutions.
