Whyte & Mackay wins Jura Origin trademark

Whisky producer Whyte & Mackay has won an appeal to register Jura Origin as a trademark representing the firm’s Scotch whiskies.

Jura Origin now represents the Whyte & Mackay’s “Scotch whisky and Scotch whisky-based liqueurs produced in Scotland”

Whyte & Mackay first filed the UK trademark application in February 2013, in a bid to officially associate Jura Origin with “Scotch whisky and Scotch whisky-based liqueurs produced in Scotland”.

A hearing officer had previously refused the application due to opposition from Origin Wine UK Ltd, and Dolce Co Invest Inc, who argued that there would be “confusion” between the Jura trademark and their trademarks – particularly due to the use of the word “origin”.

However Mr Justice Arnold, a judge in the High Court in London, did not believe there would be a “likelihood of confusion”.

In a written statement on Bailii, Mr Justice Arnold said: “In my judgement the average consumer would understand the word ‘origin’ as referring to the origin of the goods, whether their geographical origin or their trade origin.

“This would be true in relation to most goods and services, but it is particularly true of both wine and Scotch whisky, where geographical origin is both an important factor in quality and frequently intimately associated with trade origin.

“It is follows that the word ‘origin’ is inherently descriptive, or at least non-distinctive, for the goods in issue.”

Whyte & Mackay has been approached for comment