It concluded that the work fails the creativity test – whether one considers the elements individually or as a whole. According to the Board, even if the work essentially depicts a single quotation mark within a circle, the individual elements do not satisfy the standard of originality because they comprise familiar symbols and designs, and common geometric shapes. Despite the fact that Vodafone had initially claimed that the sign is a quotation mark – the Board argued that this does not change the scope of registrability because quotation marks have multiple orientations. Accordingly, it does not matter if the mark depicts an apostrophe or a quotation mark. The Board then drew this analogy to the later contested ballooned droplet. Even if a balloon droplet was depicted it would be instantly recognizable as a quotation mark. This being the case, the work in question could not be registered in accordance with

Section 313.4(J) of the Compendium

that states that symbols typically found on a keyboard, such as asterisks, ampersands, and the like cannot afford registration.