JURISDICTION REPORT: SWEDEN
The four seasons: brands with a message
By Petter Rindforth of Fenix Legal
While some trademarks are created as completely new words, others use existing—and in some connections descriptive—words to give the customer a specific feeling, memory or association.
Take the four seasons for example. Close your eyes and listen to the words: spring, summer, autumn, winter. Or, as we say in Sweden: Vår, sommar, höst, vinter. What kind of activities, goods (or services) do you think about?
Vår (spring)
According to Wikipedia, “Spring and ‘springtime’ refer to ideas of rebirth, rejuvenation, renewal, resurrection and regrowth”. The Swedish word for “spring” is “vår”, from the Low German “vorjar”, meaning the first part of the year.
Vår is the same in Norwegian, and in 1979, the Norwegian based company Margarincentralen (known today as Forma) registered in Sweden the trademark ‘Vår’ (No. 126902), for “margarine and other edible fats” in class 29, inspiring Swedish customers who had made a new year’s resolution to be healthy to eat less traditional fat.
There are other vår/spring trademarks that relate to the best way to start the new year:
Hörnhems Handelsträdgård (a gardening company) owns No. 545174 ‘Vårflirt’ (“spring flirt”) for seedlings in class 31, and several spring trademarks refer to sporting activities, such as No. 540768 ‘Vårruset’ (“spring rush”), classes 25, 28 and 41, owned by Marathongruppen in Stockholm.
Sommar (summer)
The Swedish word “sommar”, from the old Swedish word “sumar”, means “half year”. And what kind of goods or services can you market with that in mind? Well, summer—the hottest of the four seasons—is also the time of year we associate with entertainment.
Segrén-Hedlund-Höistad owns No. 509376 ‘Sommar!’, for entertainment services in class 41 and serving food and drinks in class 43.
Saturnus Varumärken has No. 619120 ‘Sommar I Ett Glas’ (“summer in a glass”), and Elevator Entertainment AB No. 511950 ‘Sommartider’ (“summer times”), both for beverages in classes 32 and 33.
The most well-known Swedish summer trademark is: ‘Sommar’, No. 386593, owned by Sveriges Radio AB (“SR”)—Sweden’s national publicly funded radio broadcaster—for goods and services in classes 9, 16, 38 and 41.
SR is continuously active in watching and fighting against others’ use of similar trademarks. The latest case is “Nere på Noll” (“down to zero”), a Swedish music podcast about punk and hardcore, that recently decided to make a programme inspired by SR’s ‘Sommar’, namely “Sommar i Nere på Noll”, where friends and musicians from the hardcore scene talked about their experiences.
“Nere på Noll received an email from Sveriges Radio urging them to stop using the word ‘Sommar’ as it is a trademark for culture and entertainment activities.”
Petter Rindforth
After the third episode, in July 2022 Nere på Noll received an email from SR urging them to stop using the word “Sommar” as it is a trademark for culture and entertainment activities. SR’s corporate lawyer Kerstin Bröms Lumpus stated that “Since Sveriges Radio is a company in the service of the public, it is also important that our operations are not associated with commercial interests or actors.”
Although Nere på Noll are not commercial, they decided to cross out the word ‘Sommar’ on their website. The new name will be “Semester i Nere på Noll” (“vacation in down to zero”).
Höst (autumn)
The Swedish word “höst” means “harvest”. Trademarks built on the word “höst” are often combined with a word that may be contradictory to this part of the year when nature prepares for the cold winter time.
No. 528483 ‘Höstsol’ (“autumn sun”) by Stiftelsen Höstsol covers retirement and convalescent home services, and Hörnhems Handelsträdgård owns No. 545130 ‘Höstglädje’ (“autumn joy”) for plants in class 31.
Saturnus again indicates what to do during an autumn night in Sweden: ‘Svensk höst’ (No. 549842), registered for “alcoholic beverages, not beer” in class 33.
Vinter (winter)
The coldest season of the year. The word “vinter”, or “vintr” back in the Viking age, is “the time of water” in Proto-Germanic, however in Sweden that “water” is snow.
It can be a perfect time to take a holiday in a sunnier part of the world, as indicated in Hejninger’s trademark No. 516687 ‘Vinter I Solen.se’ (“winter in the sun”), registered for booking travel and tour tickets, and services relating to air travel.
As noted initially, the four seasons are popular as parts of trademarks. Or, as summarised in the Swedish shoe manufactorer Lundhags Skomakarna’s trademark No. 510774, ‘Älska Årstiderna’ (“love the seasons”).
Petter Rindforth is a managing partner at Fenix Legal and is the president of the Association of Swedish Patent Attorneys. He can be contacted at: info@fenixlegal.eu
Main image: shutterstock.com / pixelparticle
