Sometimes, when a client asks us to register a trademark, the sign to be registered, though attractive in marketing terms, is weak in terms of distinctiveness.
The lack of distinctiveness of these marks is mainly because they are descriptive of the quality, quantity, characteristics, intended purpose, type or size of the goods or services they are intended to protect. A distinction must be made between purely descriptive marks (which are not registrable on absolute grounds) and weak marks. For example, a purely descriptive mark would be “squeezed apples†for apple juice and a weak mark would be “apple elixir†for the same product.
Terms or expressions that refer to the characteristics of goods and services are not appropriable by a single person or undertaking and must be available to competitors. Trademarks consisting only of such descriptive terms or expressions are therefore often rejected by registration offices.
