According to information received of our English trademark agent, the European Commission did not follow this principle in view of the introduction of the EURO.
The official symbol chosen by the European Commission consists of the Greek letter "Epsilon" and two horizontal lines. According to a note on the EU-Website the letter symbolises the roots and birthplace of the European civilisation and the lines demonstrate the stability of the currency EURO.
About 10 years ago, Barclays Bank have registered two trademarks for financial services, which are now in possession of the travel agent Thomas Cook. The logo of the devicemark (see illustration) is remarkably similar to the Euro symbol. Thomas Cook therefore contacted the European Commission to discuss the possible danger of confusion between the two logos. Apparently, these talks stopped in 1999 without any solution being found and Thomas Cook is suing now the European Community for compensation of 25,5 Mio £ because of alleged trademark infringement.