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>[04.nov.05] Trademarks - FIFA scores landmark victory in trademark dispute

Source: FIFA Media Department
The European Trademark Office, OHIM (Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market), has confirmed FIFA's rights in its 2006 FIFA World Cup™ trademarks. Only FIFA's commercial partners may use FIFA's event marks including "WM 2006", "World Cup 2006", "World Cup Germany", "Germany 2006" and "World Cup 2006 Germany" for any commercial purposes in Europe, including host country Germany. This landmark decision will be widely welcomed not only by FIFA's commercial partners, but also by other sports federations and event organisers in general.

In the OHIM case, the confectionery company Ferrero had argued that the FIFA trademarks should be declared invalid on the grounds of absence of distinctive character. OHIM has, however, confirmed FIFA's registrations for all registered trademarks for all designated categories of products and services.

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