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- American Colony Jtel Jerusalem
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- German Colony Jerusalem
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- Appartment in German Colony Jerusalem
The word Colony was successfully registered as a trademark (number 79292) by AMERICAN COLONY OF JERUSALEM LTD. in 1993 but has been facing a voiding / canceling / correction process since 2007.
Judge Noam Solberg of the Jerusalem District Court has now ruled that “American Colony” can be considered a well-known mark in the context of hotels since colonies are not synonymous with hotels and thus can’t be considered generic, and the American Colony Hotel was internationally renowned. The determination that the mark was a well-known mark was given with the reservation that it was as far as this decision is concerned. Having successfully registered the trademark “Colony”, the owners of the American Colony have succeeded in getting an injunction to prevent a new hotel calling itself “Jerusalem Colony Hotel”, “Jerusalem Colony” or”Jerusalem Colony Residence”.
Background
The “American Colony” is a well-known hotel that sits on the seam between East and West Jerusalem and is widely used for political and business meetings between Jews and Arabs, and is also a favorite haunt of Journalists. See http://www.americancolony.com
The Jerusalem Colony LTD. is a building company whose name was also filed as a trademark. The new hotel is in the neighborhood of Jerusalem that is commonly referred to as the German Colony; a well-heeled neighborhood with many restaurants and coffee houses, that was originally founded by German monks (Templars). See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Colony,_Jerusalem
Even 65 years after the Shoah, the name “German Colony Hotel” is not a great commercial choice for a hotel in Jerusalem, but the judge has ruled that in the name “Jerusalem Colony Hotel” for a hotel in Jerusalem, the dominant word is Colony, little weight can be given to hotel or Jerusalem and there is thus a real likelihood of confusion.
The TM 150279 for American Colony was abandoned in March 2003 and various other marks including the term American Colony and other words, like Jerusalem, Tel Aviv etc., are being reexamined. Presumably this court ruling will largely close the issue, and we anticipate the Israel trademark department of the patent office allowing the marks for building construction but not for hotels.
Case T.A. 9091/07 Jerusalem Colony vs. Colony Hotel
