2. Protected Signs

​​2.1 Registered signs

According to Art. 9, para 1 of the Bulgarian Trademark and Geographical Indications Act, a mark is a sign capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one person from those of other persons and is capable of being represented graphically. Such signs could be (in particular) words, including personal names, letters, numerals, drawings, figures, the shape of goods or of their packaging, combination of colours, sound signs or any combination of such signs. The wording of the said provision is slightly different from the relevant provisions of Art. 4 CTMR and Art. 2 EC TM Directive. The capability of the sign to be represented graphically is the most fundamental requirement for registration of a trademark. The explicit mentioning of „sound signs“ and „combination of colours“ resembles the definition, given in § 3 of the German Trademark Law.³³Actually the German Trademark Law served as the basis for the new Bulgarian Trademark Law, which was supposed to regulate the matter with respect to the new market economy relationships. For further details please refer to the chapter on CTMs [section 2].