These trademarks, which we use for communications about our products and services, are recognised by consumers worldwide, making them extremely valuable to DMG and therefore worth protecting. Given this, we are pleased about DMG’s recent successes in trademark disputes.
Icon innovation – exclusively by DMG
DMG’s trademark portfolio includes the “ICON” brand. The dental product Icon is DMG’s innovative solution for micro-invasive infiltration treatment. Infiltration therapy enables the early arrest of proximal caries as well as the aesthetic treatment of white spots on smooth surfaces. Without drilling and without unnecessary loss of dental substance.
“ICON” is a nationally and internationally registered trademark, including in the People’s Republic of China, which is used commercially by DMG and our affiliated companies. It is in DMG’s best interests and critical to our business success to prevent dilution of the “ICON” trademark. Consequently, we are committed to defending the Icon trademark through legal proceedings.
Multiple successes in China
DMG has recently achieved above-average success in filing trademark oppositions and nullity actions in China against third-party trademark applications. These concerned similar, partially similar or identical products in a dental context. Several instances where the Chinese trademark authorities ruled in favour of DMG on account of our strong trademark registry position, our legal argumentation based on prior trademark rights and submission of evidence of use, concerned names similar to our “ICON” trademark. For example: “ICAN”, “ICONNY”, “IKIN”, “IKOD”, “IKOEN”, “ICOR, EIKON Health” - to name just some of the positive legal decisions cases in favour of DMG within the past year.
The legal outcome:
The trademark applications claiming dental-related goods and which we legally challenged through opposition proceedings were partially canceled ex officio.
DMG has therefore been able to successfully assert itself in this matter, proving that “ICON” enjoys a high degree of recognition in China and is also legally regarded as a distinctive trademark, one that we are diligently working to protect against dilution.
Our customers can continue to rest assured: DMG products are premium dental solutions with the “Made in Germany” quality.