Trade Mark Protection as a Creative Method of Indirect Monument Preservation Following the Ruling of The European Court of Justice
Trade Mark Protection as a Creative Method of Indirect Monument Preservation Following the Ruling of The European Court of Justice

Author(s): Dominika Tarasiuk
Subject(s): Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, Museology & Heritage Studies, Library and Information Science, Preservation, Law on Economics
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
Keywords: trade mark; cultural heritage; a monument of motorisation; European Union law; Court of Justice of the European Union
Summary/Abstract: The evolution of the cultural heritage protection law leads to the emergence of new methods of its protection. An example of such “new method” may be a trade mark protection as an indirect way to protect a monument. This method was developed as a result of the decision of European Court of Justice concerning protection of Testarossa trade mark. The importance of this ruling for the protection of cultural heritage is primarily expressed by the possibility of its universal application to goods that are in a similar situation to the Testarossa cars – old, well-known and associated with certain manufacturer. The indirectness of such protection is reflected in the fact that trade mark protection is not, as a rule, intended to protect monuments. However, the Court of Justice has, in this particular case, succeeded in applying it in such a way. The application of the European Union trade mark law in a manner that allows protection of the Testarossa car, not only as a marketable good, but above all as a historic automotive product, should definitely be viewed positively. For this reason the decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union discussed in the following article deserves attention.

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