| Abstract [eng] |
The aim of the master's thesis is to clarify the concept of non-traditional trademarks and to analyse the problems of granting legal protection to atypical signs of smell, color and sound in the meaning of trademark law. The category of non-traditional trademarks includes such trademarks which are composed of signs which are usually less easily perceived by consumers as a distinct trademark capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one economic operator from those of other economic operators. By the Law on Amendments to Trademarks of the Republic of Lithuania No. XIII-1679 of the Republic of Lithuania of 12 December 2015, which implemented the provisions of Directive 2015/2436 relating to the substantive conditions for the protection of trademarks, abolished the absolute requirement of graphic representation for signs seeking protection in the meaning of the trademark law and introduced a mandatory condition for the protection of trademarks, according to which legal protection may be granted to a sign in the event that it is capable of being represented by means of commonly available technologies to competent authorities and the general public in a manner that is understandable to the general public and that does not have to be graphic and that allows the subject of the protection granted to the owner of the sign to be identified clearly and precisely. The paper examines the impact of these changes in the legal framework on the registration process of trade marks consisting of atypical signs. The main problems arising in practice, which make it difficult to grant legal protection to scent, color and sound signs, are related to the specific characteristics of these signs, which make it more difficult for consumers to identify them in relation to the goods and services of a particular economic entity, compared to traditional signs. Although there is a formal legal possibility to register atypical trade marks, it is recognised that some of the atypical signs examined in the master's thesis, due to the insufficient level of technical development, cannot currently be expressed in a sufficiently clear and comprehensible form for the public, and therefore cannot acquire the status of protected subject-matter in the sense of trademark law. |
