Chanel seeking to register the shape of its Chanel No. 5 fragrance bottle as a trademark

Chanel seeking to register the shape of its Chanel No. 5 fragrance bottle as a trademark

Chanel No. 5 is considered as one of the world's most famous and top-selling perfumes.

Chanel's attempt to register the shape of the its No. 5 fragrance bottle as a trademark in the U.S. nearly 100 years after its release has been refused by an examining attorney for the trademark office. It was stated that the applied for mark is not inherently distinctive as "the shape of the perfume bottle and the bottle stopper is a basic shape that is common in the fields of cosmetics, fragrances, [and] perfumery."

The application was filed last year consisting of "a rectangular shaped container with beveled sides, a thinner neck and on top a horizontal rectangular faceted shape" for use on "cosmetics; fragrances and perfumery."

Although the decision is not final yet, USPTO examining attorney Sabrina Tomlinson has stated "the mark consists of a nondistinctive configuration of packaging for the goods that is not registrable on the Principal Register without sufficient proof of acquired distinctiveness." Further comparison was drawn towards Macy's, Sephora, and Ulta, that carry "many comparable and well-known cosmetics and perfumery brands that use the same rectangular shaped container with beveled sides as the base of the perfume bottle."

The mark is "incapable of creating a commercial impression because [Chanel] has no distinctive accompanying words with the rectangular shaped perfume bottle container," and so, "without additional and specific evidence of acquired distinctiveness, the applied-for configuration mark must be refused registration," she further asserted.

As a result, Chanel has been asked to provide evidence of acquired distinctiveness in the form of "verified statements of long-term use, advertising and sales expenditures, examples of advertising, affidavits and declarations of consumers, and customer surveys."