The 'state of the register': The admissibility and weight given to evidence of comparable trade mark registrations across five jurisdictions

Johnson, Phillip ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7316-0732 2024. The 'state of the register': The admissibility and weight given to evidence of comparable trade mark registrations across five jurisdictions. European Intellectual Property Review 46 , pp. 705-715. 10.3316/informit.T2024121800019591517868195 Item availability restricted.

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Abstract

It is not uncommon for a party to a trade mark dispute to search the trade marks register, and through the decisions of courts and tribunals, to find purportedly similar marks which have been accepted or rejected. The outcome of this research –so called state of the register evidence--is then relied upon by the party before Trade Mark Offices and courts in an attempt to overcome or make objections to registration. The weight and admissibility of this sort of evidence varies across jurisdictions although not as much as at first appears. Accordingly, the approach in the European Union, United Kingdom, Australia, Singapore and the United States is examined here, and it is found that in each of these jurisdictions the evidence once collected is rarely useful in decision making.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Law
Subjects:	K Law > K Law (General)
Publisher:	Sweet and Maxwell
ISSN:	0142-0461
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	3 October 2024
Date of Acceptance:	30 July 2024
Last Modified:	24 Jun 2025 12:30
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/172505

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