A lack of distinction?

A 250 Testa Rossa − a Ferrari racing car from the 1950s/60s − will set you back millions. According to the experts, it’s a unique piece of craftsmanship from the Ferrari stable, a veritable dream machine.

Ferrari recently applied to register the shape of this car as a trademark. This is not an unusual move for a car manufacturer; for example, the Volkswagen van, the Fiat 500 and the Citroen 2CV, are all registered European trademarks, as thanks to their unique design, they are instantly recognisable.

Ferrari, however, ran into problems when the European Trademark Office found that, unlike the cars we have just mentioned, the 250 Testa Rossa does not have a sufficiently unique design. In legal terms, its shape does not differ significantly from other cars on the market, which, according to the agency, is a prerequisite for a shape mark.

According to the European Trademark Office, the target public will mainly focus on the emblem and not on the actual shape of the car, which barring a few minor differences, can be seen more often. To back up this argument, they produced photos of the Shelby Cobra Snake, the Jaguar E-type, and the Devin SS. Ferrari’s defence was rejected, but perhaps it will file an appeal and make one final attempt to convince the European Trademark Office of the uniqueness of the 250 Testa Rossa.