Calvin Klein loses trademark battle at ECJ

Calvin Klein has lost an attempt at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to prevent a Spanish company gaining EU rights to a trademark because it uses the ‘CK’ initials in its name.

Klein opposed Zafra Marroquineros SL registering with the EU trademark regulator the mark CK Creaciones Kennya for clothes and leather goods, also made by the US giant. It claimed “there was a likelihood that consumers would confuse it with its own trademark”. But the ECJ’s Court of First Instance ruled it was “very unlikely that… CK Creaciones Kennya will be referred to merely by using the group of letters ‘ck’… because they are little known”.