The layout of a shop, such as Apple's flagship stores may be registered as a trade mark under certain conditions, the European Court of Justice said on Thursday.
_0">Apple had sought to extend a trade mark it had registered in the United States to Germany, but this was initially refused.
The ECJ, answering a question from the German Federal Patents Court, said that a store layout can be a trade mark if it departs significantly from other stores in the sector.
However, the court added that this had to be assessed on a case-by-case basis by the relevant authority. (Reporting by Robert-Jan Bartunek)