Soltysinski Kawecki i Szlezak have successfully represented the interests of Cinkciarz.pl in protecting its "Cikciarz" trademark against the claim by competitor Currency One that the trademark is not distinctive.
According to SK&S, “the General Court of the European Union considered that the word 'cinkciarz' may be a protected trademark and that the plea of descriptiveness was unfounded. Thus, company Cinkciarz.pl retained the monopoly in the European Union to use the word 'cinkciarz' inter alia in the financial sector and with regard to the service of currency exchange.”
SK&S reports that the ruling “proves that trademarks which have numerous various connotations and meanings – including historical or referring to previously illegal practices – may be perfectly well used as a trademark. The mere fact that a trademark invokes a connection with certain goods or services is not sufficient to consider such trademark descriptive.”
The Soltysinski Kawecki i Szlezak team included Partner Ewa Skrzydlo-Tefelska and Attorney Karol Gajek.
