Russia's Chamber of Patent Disputes upheld a denial of trademark registration for Apple's iPad Tablet image. Although Apple has registered the image of its iPad (a rounded rectangle, positioned on a background of small box icons) in other countries, the Chamber agreed with Rospatent's assessment that the image was "not distinctive" in character, and thus would not enable consumers to distinguish the Apple tablet from those offered by other manufacturers. According to Apple, a Russian consumer survey confirmed that 27% of the participants have known the trademark since at least 2010, and 82% correctly identified Apple as the company using it. The Chamber panel, however, questioned the objectivity of Apple's survey and relied on other extrinsic evidence to determine that the iPad image had not acquired a distinctive character. The Chamber's decision is the second denial of trademark registration for the iPad image in Russia, with a similar application previously denied in June 2012.
http://izvestia.ru/news/545332
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