Trademark Caselaw | Mexico | Doll Not Registrable as a 3D Trademark in Class 28

IMPI, Mexico’s Industrial Property office, recently refused the registration of a 3D trademark, consisting of the shape a doll and a specific color combination, which it found descriptive in connections with goods in class 28.

Mexican Trademark Application No. 1981186

The applicant submitted three diffrerent views of the proposed mark, showing both its specific shape and colors.

In its January 30 decision, refusing the application filed by Promecasa, S.A. de C.V., IMPI stated that the proposed mark, could not be registered since it was deemed descriptive of the goods it intends to identify, and most specifically regarding “games, toys and dolls”.

Assessing the distinctiveness of a 3D mark can be challenging at times and it makes sense to hold them to an even higher standard of examination than the applied traditional trademarks, since they tend to consist of the shape of a specific good, in many cases. That said, the shape of a doll with no additional elements other than a specific color combination, does not seem to fit the mold of a descriptive mark.

IMPI’s decisions regarding 3D trademarks can be contradictory, as it seems to have previously granted trademark registrations under similar circumstances, yet when such circumstance was raised by the applicant, and rather than elaborating on the characteristics of the proposed mark, it made it  clear that trademark applications are examined individually and with no regard to whether analog cases have been previously resulted in granted registrations.

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