In February 2023, the General Court of the European Union (GC) handed down its decisions in cases T-253/22 and T-204/22 (Groschopp AG Drives & More v EUIPO and Rimini Street, Inc. v EUIPO) (the "Decisions"), both concerning the registration of slogans as trademarks. In the first case, the applicant had applied for an EU trademark registration of the verbal sign "Sustainability through Quality". By confirming the first instance decision, the Board of Appeal (BoA) dismissed this application as the trademark lacked distinctiveness and was merely an advertising slogan. Similarly, in the second case, the applicant appealed the EUIPO's refusal of its trademark application for the slogan "Other companies do software we do support". The BoA also rejected this appeal, stating that a trademark that only consists of an advertising slogan must be regarded as devoid of any distinctive character if it can be perceived by the relevant public only as a mere promotional formula. In both cases, the GC confirmed the Board of Appeal's decision, highlighting the challenges of registering slogans as trademarks. The GC emphasised the importance of ensuring that a trademark to be registered must be distinctive and able to function as an indication of commercial origin.
Originally published by March, 2023
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