Reputation
In the opposition proceedings against the Splumbix registration, Whatsapp provided an impressive amount of evidence clearly showing how well-known the Whatsapp icon is in Europe. To name just one example: in 2019, 11.9 million Dutch people had Whatsapp on their smartphone. At that time, the population of the Netherlands was 17.2 million in total.
Free-riders
According to the European trademark office, the European general public will quickly link the Splumbix logo and the Whatsapp icon. Therefore Geosum unfairly benefits from the reputation of the Whatsapp logo. This type of free-riding is not allowed, and that’s why the Splumbix logo did not get its registration.
Bas Kist
