Denial of trademark protection for descriptive terms: “Wellsweet”

Signs that are exclusively descriptive cannot be registered as trademarks. This is especially true if they represent certain characteristics of the goods or services in question. This also applies to signs that have a "close descriptive connection." For this reason, the Federal Patent Court (BPatG) rejected the WELLSWEET trademark for, among other things, pastries. The term merely conveys the impression that the products bearing the name "Wellsweet" are good and sweet, or that they possess or produce a pleasant sweetness, according to the BPatG. Even the fact that the words "well" and "sweet" have been combined does not change this. The novelty of a name alone cannot establish distinctive character. This is all the more true since the public is accustomed to constantly encountering new and unusual terms in business that are intended to convey factual information in a memorable form.