The case involved a Hungarian company, Iron and Smith, that applied to register a “be impulsive” trade mark with the Hungarian authorities. Multinational Unilever objected to the registration, noting the earlier registration of its own trademark “Impulse” in the EU.

The court argued that the registration of Iron and Smithʼs trade mark would come with either “actual and present injury” to Unileverʼs trade mark or “serious risk that such injury may occur in the future”.