Symbols of National Importance, Article 6ter Paris Convention and Public Policy and Morality: Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service Before the General Court in T-82/24 ‒ <i>RUSSIAN WARSHIP</i>

Abstract 24 February 2022, the day that Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, caught many by surprise and prompted an unprecedented use of the Ukrainian flag and other national symbols by public authorities and private entities across the globe. Public attention also led to a spike in applications for trademark registrations of such symbols, including at the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO). One of these applications, notably made on behalf of Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service, reached the General Court. The application does not concern a state emblem communicated under Art. 6ter Paris Convention but it certainly does involve a symbol of national importance. While, nearly a hundred years after the adoption of Art. 6ter in 1925, the issue of use and trademark registration of various symbols of national importance is not an exclusive domain of public authorities, it is of interest to society at large, as the public reaction to (over)use of such symbols demonstrates. The article discusses the T-82/24 – RUSSIAN WARSHIP case in light of the cross-border treatment of symbols of national importance under trademark law and the ongoing discussions in Ukraine and at the WIPO. It deals with the prohibition of trademark registration of state symbols and the role of public policy and morality, including in the EUIPO examination of applications made in connection with Russia’s full-scale invasion. The article also reflects more broadly on the treatment of symbols of national importance and the implications of the cross-border use of such symbols for examinations at the EUIPO.