TM TM TM TM TM TM Pharmaceutical Trade Marks Group Dec 2014 As Christmas approches and thoughts turn to menus, one wonders whether the media actually do bombard us with more food related stories or whether our senses are merely more tuned in to this topic at this time of year. The outbreak of avian influenza on a duck farm in Yorkshire, UK last month brought bio security back on the radar whilst the Archbishop of Canterbury's recent comments in a UK Sunday newspaper again raised the profile of the issue of food poverty. You could be forgiven for thinking that living in France gives you a warped view of the importance of eating in the daily routine. After all, in this country you live to eat rather than the other way round. A clear indication of this is the so-called "Commission Menu" which takes place twice a term in every secondary school to determine what will be served at the school canteen. Parents, students and school management staff as well as the school chef and his purchasing team discuss, share feedback and plan upcoming menus. School dinners here are a four course affair with very stringent criteria to ensure a balanced, low salt and sugar diet is offered to teenagers. A far cry from the tuck shop ! However, the net result of these regulations is massive waste since a lot of what is served doesn't Editorial: We are what we eat.... look like food from home. There is definitely a revival in the developed world for locally grown and sourced food supplies. Vegetables that had gone out of fashion are back with a vengeance and allotments have become a very trendy way to socialize. Major supermarket chains are having to re-think their global business models and people are voting with their shopping baskets. What we eat, how we eat and where the food comes from concerns us all wherever we live. Government leaders met in November this year at the second International Conference on nutrition and the World Health Organisation will dedicate its World Health Day on April 7, 2015 to food safety. WHO's Director-General, Margaret Chan's comments in the Lancet on the topic underlined the intrinsic link between what we swallow and our on-going health. Hopefully the next generation will be more attuned to sustainable food supplies and thus naturally improve their long term health prospects. What we can be sure of is that the food served at the PTMG Conference in Venice next March will be of the highest quality, as always. I look forward to seeing many of you there and meanwhile wish you a very happy and healthy festive season. Vanessa US Law Update James A. Thomas, Merck & Co., Inc., Whitehouse Station, USA The US Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) affirmed an Examiner’s refusal to register VICORYX for pharmaceutical preparations for the treatment of cancer on the basis of VICEREX, which was registered for dietary supplements. In so ruling, the TTAB found the goods involved were related, noting the Examiner’s evidence that dietary supplements were used in conjunction with cancer treatment, that both pharmaceutical preparations and dietary supplements were included together in numerous other registrations, and that cancer patients would be customers of both goods. In re Oryx Verwaltungs GmbH, TTAB, Ser. No. 85823101, 9/2/2014 (non-precedential). In a case of first impression, the TTAB recently ruled on the standard for determining abandonment for nonuse involving a Section 66(a) registration (under the Madrid Protocol). Under US trade mark law, non-use for three consecutive years constitutes prima facie evidence of abandonment. With respect to applications based on use or an intention to use, for which use is required prior to registration, this non-use period can be calculated at any time beginning with the applicant’s declaration of use, including non-use occurring prior to registration. In the case of a Section 66(a) registration, however, no use is required before registration. Therefore, the TTAB held that in a cancellation action based on non-use involving a Section 66(a) registration, the non-use period could not begin until at least the registration issues. Dragon Bleu (SARL) v VENM, LLC, TTAB, Opp. No. 91212231, 12/1/2014.