European Union rejected Latvian company trademark “Royal Smoke”

European Union rejected Latvian company trademark “Royal Smoke”

The opposition office of the European Union Intellectual Property Office rejected the trademark application of the Latvian Baltic Trade Solutions company “Royal Smoke”, which is intended for use in products such as vape. The adjudication found that “Royal Smoke” is too similar to British American Tobacco‘s “Royal” cigarette trademark. And ordinary consumers may mistakenly believe that the two are related, and the product in question belongs to the category of “smoking products”. At present, representatives from both parties have not responded to requests for comment. And the case is being reviewed by the European Intellectual Property Office.

Focus on

Event outcome: The European Union rejected the trademark application of the Latvian company “Royal Smoke”, which is intended for use in products such as vape.
Reason for rejection: The “Royal” cigarette trademark of British American Tobacco is too similar, shares core elements, and involves products that belong to the category of “smoker’s products”, which may lead consumers to mistakenly believe that there is a connection.
Case information: British American Tobacco filed an object in 2024 of involving EU trademark number 19051987 and case number B3226003. The case is being reviewed by the European Intellectual Property Office, and both parties have not yet responded to comments.

Detail introduction

On August 12th, the European Intellectual Property Office’s Objection Division ruled that Sia “Baltic Trade Solutions” cannot obtain exclusive rights to “Royal Smoke” for selling vapes because the trademark is too similar to the “Royal” logo used by Rothmans of Pall Mall Ltd. for cigarette products.
The ruling stated that in 2024, British American Tobacco had requested officials to reject the Latvian company’s trademark application, which covered vapes, cigarettes, and tobacco products.
The opposition believes that these products belong to the same category as the broader “smoker’s products” covered by the previously registered logo of British American Tobacco.
The ruling pointed out that the “Royals” in the British American Tobacco logo appeared almost entirely in the logo of the Latvian company.
The objection ruled that this common element constitutes the main part of the Latvian company logo, while the word “Smoke” and other different graphic elements have a secondary nature and are “much less relevant in terms of trademark relevance”.
The ruling also stated that ordinary consumers may perceive the Latvian company’s logo as a sub brand or variant of the British American Tobacco “Royal” brand, simply adopting different design approaches for slightly different products.

Representatives from the British American Tobacco and the Latvian company have not immediately responded to requests for comment.
The EU trademark number involved in this case is 19051987.
The case number is B3226003 and is being reviewed by the European Intellectual Property Office.