The Argentine National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) declared the nullity of the denominative trademark “LION’S MANE” (Resolution 3.699.014), registered to identify dietary supplements, vitamins and nutritional preparations. The administrative decision concerned a registration owned by TRADING MASTER SRL, after noting that the sign coincides with the common name of a well-known medicinal fungus: Hericium erinaceus.
The resolution is clear: “LION’S MANE” is the English translation of “Melena de León”, the common name of the fungus Hericium erinaceus. As it is a usual and descriptive designation of an active ingredient used in traditional medicine and dietary supplements, the sign does not identify a business origin, but simply indicates what the product is and not whose it is. Registering it would violate Articles 2 and 24 of Law No. 22.362, unjustifiably hindering competition in the market.
Upon detecting this serious defect, the INPI applied the mechanism of administrative nullity, provided for in Article 24 of the Trademark Law. The agency considered that allowing a monopoly over a term that directly identifies the ingredient could hinder competition in the dietary supplements market, since multiple manufacturers use that designation to describe the same product.
The case leaves a clear lesson in the field of intellectual property and trademark registration: when a sign describes the product or its composition, it loses distinctiveness. And if the registration is granted by mistake, the INPI may annul it in order to preserve free competition and the proper functioning of the trademark system.
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