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    Another area of practice where OHIM generally exhibits a laissez faire attitude to registrability is place names. The writer was reminded of this when he noted the recent acceptance by the CTM Office of Blackburn for, amongst other goods, clothing.

    Now Blackburn is a well-known town, situated in the North West of England, with a population of about 140,000. It was a key centre for the textile industry during the Industrial Revolution and remains closely associated with the manufacture and supply of clothing and textiles. The town is the home of Blackburn Rovers FC, the English football league champions in 1995. For those of a certain age, it will always be associated with The Beatles’ song “A Day in the Life” which featured the line “I read the news today. Oh, boy, 4,000 holes in Blackburn, Lancashire”.

    Given this background, one might have thought that the OHIM Examiner would have raised an Article 7(1)(c) objection against the CTM application for Blackburn, at least in so far as it claimed clothing. But no, the application sailed through to publication.

    Even at that stage, it was not too late for the town’s football team to step in and save local pride by opposing the application on the basis of their earlier Class 25 rights in Blackburn Rovers FC. Again no, it was left to a German company, Engelhorn KG, to file an opposition based on their earlier mark Black Bear. Whether a member of the family Ursidae can be confused with a historic town in Lancashire remains to be seen.

    To rub salt into North Western wounds, the CTM application for Blackburn is owned by a US company, Bell Sports. This is not the first time that companies from outside the UK have used OHIM to plunder the names of Lancashire towns and cities for their own commercial ends. The county town of Lancaster (pop. 46,000) is registered by an Italian company for a wide range of goods, including clothing. The industrial town of Oldham (pop. 104,000) is protected in 18 classes, including Class 25, by a CTM registration owned by Black & Decker. The city of Preston (pop. 131,000) is the subject of a CTM registration owned by a Dutch company for textile goods in Class 24.

    Where will it all end? Probably in an English Court finding that all of these CTM registrations are invalid and unenforceable.

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