Description
On 3 March, the Augusta golf club received the official registration certificate. A description is also included in the registration: “The mark consists of the colours green and gold where the colour green is applied to the jacket and the colour gold is applied to the three waist buttons and the two sleeve buttons on each arm of the jacket”.
Integration
The golf club received the registration only after it had been able to prove with a lot of documentary evidence that the green jacket had acquiered distinctiveness as a trademark: through prolonged and intensive use, the jacket has become widely known. The trademark is registered for ‘organisation of golf tournaments’ and for ‘promotion of products and services through sponsorship of sports events’.
Distinctive Brands
It’s actually quite strange that such a jacket is now also a protected trademark. But on the other hand, why not? If the green jacket has become distinctive and you recognise a golf tournament from it, perhaps this isn’t all that strange. By the way, you often come across brands for which you can think: ‘gosh, is that a brand, too?’. For instance, these glasses that are incorporated in a hood or a glove with 2 red fingers. European registration has recently been requested for both trademarks. They still need to be examined by the EU Trademark Office, though.
