There are mornings when coffee wakes you up. And there are mornings when the coffee seems sluggish compared to the news.
On my LinkedIn feed popped an interesting post by Intellectual Property thought leader Latha Nair: “India just got its first smell mark, that too smelling of roses! 🙂 And it must be a sweet feeling for any trademark enthusiast from India!“
That was the moment my coffee stopped being a beverage and became a witness to history.
The details were even better. Sumitomo has “apparently been infusing the floral fragrance of roses into its products as an integral component of its business strategy and product development since 1995.”
And a 13-page order from the Controller General now trailblazes India’s journey into the world of non-conventional marks.
The coffee sputtered and screeched down my alimentary canal as I checked again if it was Sumitomo the tyre company.
Yes. It was.
A tyre company applying for — and getting — a smell trademark. That too, of a rose. To be infused into its products?
But here is where the fun truly begins. To register a smell, you must represent it graphically. So Sumitomo submitted a graphic of a “rose-like smell”, with the assistance of IIIT, Allahabad.
A picture of perfume?
A drawing of aroma?
Some sort of curvy line that looks like a rose caught in a Wi-Fi signal?
Which makes me wonder: What would the official graphic be for the smell of coffee?
And when do we get an emoji for “wake up and smell the coffee,” because modern civilisation is clearly running behind schedule?
Her post also quotes the order, in impeccable judicial calm, that “the scent of roses bears no direct relationship with the nature, characteristics, or use of tyres.”
I think that translates to: “This makes no earthly sense, and that is exactly why it qualifies.”
Honestly, understanding why a tyre smells like roses is about as clear as solving this week’s crossword with last week’s clues. You know something is happening. You just cannot explain what and why.
It is one of those “fact is stranger than fiction” moments.
Science fiction predicted teleportation and aliens.
Reality gave us perfumed tyres.
I am still trying to imagine that “rose-like smell” graphic.
My nose says yes.
My brain says absolutely not.
And my coffee says, “Please leave me out of this.”
