Reforms to EU trade mark laws finalised soon could open the way for non-conventional trade marks to be registered, like smells, noises and even music, an expert has said.
The European Parliament backed a new directive designed to "approximate" the different national trade mark laws (70-page/538KB PDF), and a new regulation that updates existing Community trade marks rules (202-page/1.19MB PDF) on Tuesday last week. The changes had already been endorsed by the EU's other law-making body, the Council of Ministers.