Specsavers wins OK to trademark ‘should’ve’ – so far

In what has come as a surprise to some, the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) accepted Specsavers’ application to tradark the terms on 12 August.The terms appear in Specsavers’ advertising slogan ‘Should’ve gone to Specsavers’ and in its online social media marketing campaign in the form of the hashtag #shouldve.As part of the tradark registration process, other parties are able to challenge the IPO’s decision within two months of the application’s publication (ie, 12 October). However, should the IPO’s approval rain unopposed and the application be successful, rival companies will not be able to use ‘should’ve’ or ‘shouldve’ in their promotional material.Ms Tania Clark from UK intellectual property law firm Withers & Rogers told BBC the outcome was astonishing . They [Specsavers] have a very powerful monopoly in this word … which is a verb in common usage, she said.Comparing Specsavers’ case to Carlsberg’s tradark of the word ‘probably’, Ms Clark expressed surprise at the breadth of the former’s application, given Carlsberg’s exclusive use rights only covered beer and related alcohol product marketing. It’s [Specsavers’ application] very broad as the patent refers to printed matter which could relate to gift cards and retail services, she said.Ms Clark added that Carlsberg’s ‘probably’ tradark had taken more than a year to secure; by comparison, the IPO accepted Specsavers’ application in less than a month.Other successful single-term tradarks reportedly include ‘never’, ‘don’t’ and ‘always’, which are each said to be actively registered tradarks in the UK and/or the European Union.The move is Specsavers’ latest effort to protect its branding. In 2014, the company triumphed in a five-year UK tradark battle after winning an appeal that stopped British supermarket group Asda from using an oval-shaped logo similar to Specsavers’.