Regarding an application for a new string corresponding to a generic term, the use of the sign pursuant to its ordinary meaning shall have a key impact on the outcome of the objection proceeding.Indeed, the objector cannot rely on intellectual property rights to claim for an exclusive use of the disputed generic sign, since the intellectual property rights don’t cover that kind of use of a generic sign.
Furthermore, in that context, the applicant’s knowledge of the existence of the objector’s trademark shall not be sufficient to make a decision in favour of the objector. The objector is indeed not in a position which allows him to prohibit the use, by the applicant, of a generic sign understood in its ordinary meaning.For further comments on this issue, see Le contentieux des nouveaux noms de domaine (par. nr. 122).
