Renaud Cointreau & Cie, Re

This matter concerned an application by Renaud Cointreau & Cie for registration of a trade mark. The application was heard by a delegate of the Registrar of Trade Marks in Sydney on 4 March 1992. The delegate's decision, issued on 21 August 1992, found that the words "CORDON BLEU" within the proposed mark were inherently unadapted to distinguish the applicant's goods or services.

The primary legal issue before the delegate was whether the words "CORDON BLEU" possessed inherent adaptability to distinguish the applicant's offerings for the purposes of trade mark registration. The delegate was required to determine if a disclaimer of the exclusive use of these words was necessary, even if evidence of actual distinctiveness through use could be established.

The delegate reasoned that despite potential evidence of distinctiveness in fact, the words "CORDON BLEU" were inherently unsuitable for exclusive appropriation as a trade mark. Consequently, the delegate required the applicant to consent to a disclaimer of the exclusive use of these words. This would have permitted the application to proceed to acceptance in Part B of the Register, following its transfer to that part at the applicant's instruction. The applicant was also directed to rectify the specification of services.

As the applicant failed to provide the required consent to the disclaimer or address the specification of services within the two-month period stipulated in the delegate's decision, the application for registration of trade mark number 534174 was ultimately refused in either Part A or Part B of the Register.