A trade mark or design right on your dish? Get it registered!

Social media is full of it: the croissant filled with Swiss cream and topped with a layer of pink icing or chocolate, otherwise known as the crompouce. And so pastry chefs have taken to their ovens en masse to ride the hype. But in their enthusiasm they forgot to check the trade mark and design register, and that may now cost them dearly.

The crompouce has been registered as a trade mark and as a design with the Benelux Office for Intellectual Property by the Utrecht baker Bammetje Bakery. Put simply, that gives Bammetje Bakery the right to determine who may use the name crompouce, and how and when, and who may reproduce the crompouce. Nobody may do so without Bammetje Bakery’s permission. That is what trade mark law and design law lay down.

 

             

 

Even so, both the name crompouce and the way the crompouce looks have been taken over one to one by a great many pastry shops. So by now there will be steam coming out of Bammetje Bakery’s ears at the sight of all those infringing crompoucen. And rightly so, because according to Bammetje Bakery infringement of this right will most certainly be acted upon.

Trade mark law and design law form part of what is known as intellectual property law. With trade marks it is the origin function that matters, so that consumers are able to tell from a product who made it. Think of that one person, and we all know one, who keeps insisting that Pepsi is not Coke. A trade mark therefore distinguishes the origin of goods or services. With designs it is the appearance of a product that is protected, cars for instance. The idea there is that you do not give your product the same appearance as another product, and also that you as a designer are continually challenged to bring a new design to the market.

Registering is the whipped cream on your company’s cake

Both trade mark law and design law impose the hard requirement that you register the trade mark or design. If you do not, you can in principle derive no rights from it. And that is something we often see go wrong with businesses starting out. So have you come up with a nice logo or design? File it as a trade mark or design.

That brings us straight to the next legal problem we regularly see come past. A lot of start-ups fail to check the trade mark or design register before launching their new logo or product. In doing so you risk a letter of claim from the owner of the original trade mark or design for infringement. Often coupled with a hefty claim for damages. And then you are starting again with empty pockets.

The recipe for success

Registering trade marks or designs is a precise business. It is wise to call in the help of a lawyer with knowledge of trade names and designs. Together with you we determine the scope and reach of protection for your trade mark or design. We also carry out research for you into whether the trade mark or design can in fact be registered, and so whether the registration does not infringe the rights of others.

Have you found that others are using your trade mark or design without your permission? Then we can help you secure your rights as well. Think of sending a letter of claim, drawing up a licence agreement for the use, and litigating where necessary. So do not hesitate to get in contact.

And how will the crompouce fare? That depends entirely on how many pastry shops are prepared to take a licence, which is to say to pay, for the use of the name and the design. What we do know is that Bakker van Maanen, who brought the crompouce to a wide audience, has obtained a licence and so may go on selling the crompouce for the time being.

Image 1: Instagram Bakker van Maanen

Images 2 and 3: Design registration of Ulrika Menig trading as Bammetje Bakery