Press Release: Judgment in Case C-205/13. Hauck GmbH & Co.KG v Stokke A/S, Stokke Nederland BV, Peter Opsvik and Peter Opsvik A/S

Registration as a trade mark of shapes required by the function of a product and of shapes which give substantial value to a product with several characteristics may be precluded under EU law.

Reserving the benefit of such shapes to a single operator would grant a monopoly over the essential characteristics of goods, thereby undermining the objective of trade mark protection.