The Nordic Council appeals the registration of the brand “the Nordic model”

The unanimous decision to lodge an appeal with the Supreme Administrative Court of Sweden was made at a meeting of the Presidium on Åland.

“The term ‘the Nordic model’ has been used in a variety of contexts for decades now, irrespective of political affiliation. We have no intention of changing this,” explains Þórhallsson.

The situation stems from an application from the Swedish Social Democrats to the Swedish Patent and Registration Office (PRV) in 2012 for the right to register ‘the Nordic model’ as a trademark. The application was approved. When PRV rejected initial objections,  the Nordic Council  decided to appeal to the Swedish Court of Patent Appeals. The court has now rejected the Council’s appeal and so the Council is taking the matter to the Supreme Court.

In its appeal, the Council pointed out that the term “the Nordic model” is general Nordic intellectual property which cannot be regarded as exclusively Swedish or belonging to a particular political group. It is part of the cultural and political heritage of the entire Region and its people. The Swedish application implies that the expression has long been associated with the labour movement.

“The Nordic model is a term that several countries identify with and use regularly. Just within the scope of official Nordic co-operation, a whole range of annual publications feature the term,” the President stresses. 

The Nordic Council is the official inter-parliamentary body of the Nordic Region. It was founded in 1952 and usually holds two sessions a year, at which MPs from the Nordic countries and autonomous territories discuss and debate topical political issues affecting Nordic co-operation.