Offensive
European trademark law provides that trademarks which are contrary to public policy or accepted principles of morality cannot be registered. This means that if a trademark contains a word that is considered vulgar or offensive in one of the 27 EU Member States, EUIPO will refuse it. And EUIPO is quick to label something “vulgar”. The Curve Hotel was refused because, in Romanian, “curve” means “prostitutes”. So: a whore hotel. At least, if you understand Romanian.
Many Curve refusals
The Curve Hotel is certainly not the first Curve trademark to run into trouble at the European trademark office. On EUIPO’s website, I count around 50 Curve trademarks that have run into problems because of EUIPO’s strict policy. Apparently, Curve is a popular element among European trademark owners. In almost all EU countries, it refers to a “curved line” or “bend”. The Curve Hotel indeed is a hotel built in a striking curved line, so the choice is understandable. The same applies, for example, to the trademark Curve-O, for a comb with a curve. But EUIPO does not care whether you have the best intentions: almost all European Curve trademarks are refused because of the meaning of the word in Romanian.
Do the check
In short, if you want to register a trademark in Europe, make sure to use AI to check its meaning in the various EU countries. Before you know it, your trademark may be offensive somewhere in the EU and be refused, as also happened with the trademarks Sulla, Pina, Laba and Candra. Just look it up.
Bas Kist
Banner photo: interior of The Curve Hotel. Photo via Booking.
