Glaxo has fought unsuccessfully on several planes in respect of its inhaler products in recent years, including in the UK and the EU. It has been clear from each case that Glaxo considers the colours of its inhaler products to be important to their brand identity.

In a recent decision of the Second Chamber of the General Court (GC), Glaxo has finally had some success, and a prior decision of the Board of Appeal (BoA) to invalidate its 3D/ colour mark for an inhaler has now been annulled and will be remitted to the BoA. This was based on inconsistencies in the original decision and an incorrect assessment of the mark’s inherent distinctiveness.

Chris Hawkes explains more in an article for CITMA that you can read here.