MOSCOW, July 10 (RAPSI) – Apple Inc. will be able to trademark its store layout in the European Union if it adheres to a number of stipulations, according to a statement released by the Court of Justice of the European Union on Thursday.

The court of Justice issued the clarification after Apple filed for registering the trademark in Germany. The motion was denied in 2013, after which Apple appeal the rejection in court. The Federal Patent Court of Germany then transferred the case to the Court of Justice for further clarification.

The divisive point was the supposition whether premises where a certain service or item is being sold can be equated to an item’s packaging adehering to the 2008/95/EU directive.

The Court Of Justice ruled that the store layout which was presented by Apple can indeed be registered as a trademark, if a certain distinction can be made to separate services and items sold by one company from another. The court agreed that a store layout in itself may boost the association with the services and items being sold as related only to this particular company.

The court also noted that these distinctions should be determined by the patent bureaus with accordance of consumers’ perception of said items and services.

In the United States, the three dimensional layout of the Apple store was registered as a trademark in 2010.