question Geographical Name can be a TM?

[Furquan]

I was reading a news about Skoda automaker company banned in India to use "Monte Carlo" name.

https://auto.ndtv.com/news/skoda-banned-from-using-monte-carlo-name-in-india-1762917/

As the name is geographical location so I wonder why the court issued this verdict.

 

[jberryhill]

ANYTHING which is distinctive of the goods/services can be a trademark.

Chevrolet makes a vehicle called "Tahoe":

Tahoe is a resort town named for the lake on the border between California and Nevada:

Kraft makes a cheese called Philadelphia:

Philadelphia is a city in Pennsylvania:

No, you cannot make a truck called a "Tahoe" or a cheese called "Philadelphia", because those two geographical terms are trademarks for vehicles and for cheese.

 

[deez007]

ANYTHING which is distinctive of the goods/services can be a trademark.

Chevrolet makes a vehicle called "Tahoe":

Tahoe is a resort town named for the lake on the border between California and Nevada:

Kraft makes a cheese called Philadelphia:

Philadelphia is a city in Pennsylvania:

No, you cannot make a truck called a "Tahoe" or a cheese called "Philadelphia", because those two geographical terms are trademarks for vehicles and for cheese.

So you saying that we CAN make a cheese name Tahoe and Truck named Philadelphia?

 

[Argentum]

...

 

[jberryhill]

So you saying that we CAN make a cheese name Tahoe and Truck named Philadelphia?

Yes. Provided that (a) the names as applied to the products are not descriptive of origin, and (b) that consumers would not assume they were, such that the names would be deceptively geographically misdescriptive.