Directive2015/2436

European Union directive
Title	Trade Mark Directive 2015
Made by	Council
Made under	Article 100a
History
Date made	2015
Other legislation
Amended by	see text
Current legislation

TheTrade Marks Directive 2015 (2015/2436) harmonisestrade mark rights inEuropean Union law.

Council Directive No. 89/104/EEC, "to approximate the laws of the Member States relating to trade marks", was introduced intoEuropean Union law on 21 December 1988.^[1] Its provisions were required to be introduced into national law by 29 December 1991. On this date, theDirective therefore became law with direct effect in each of the member states of the European Union. It was repealed in 2008 by EU Directive 2008/95/EC, which in turn was recast by Directive 2015/2436.

In the UK the Directive was transposed into domestic law by The Trade Marks Regulations 2018 which amended theTrade Marks Act 1994.^[2]

The Directive was intended to approximate the laws of the Member States of the European Union which relate totrade marks and to harmonise disparities in the respectivetrade mark laws which had the potential to impede thefree movement of goods andprovision of services, or to distortcompetition within the European Union. The Directive provided a framework of minimum provisions applicable throughout the European Union but did not seek to impose onerous obligations on national trademark registries. For example, the Directive did not stipulate how member states should deal with the registration, revocation and invalidity of trademarks. These elements were left to the national bodies' discretion.

The Directive stipulates that signscannot be registered if they are:

• devoid of distinctive character
• signs which exclusively indicate the kind, quality, or other characteristics of the goods or services they represent
• customary signs in the trade
• contrary topublic policy, or
• deceitful.

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