BVG v EUIPO: A Sound Mark Judgment That Resonates Beyond Melody

On 10 September 2025, the General Court of the European Union delivered a judgment in Case T‑288/24 – BVG v EUIPO that merits close attention from trade mark practitioners and also brand owners. The Court annulled the EUIPO's refusal to register a sound, namely a short jingle of Berlin's public transport operator, Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG), for use on their buses, confirming that brevity and simplicity are not, in themselves, grounds for refusal under Article 7(1)(b) of the EUTMR.

Listen to the jingle that BVG applied for here.

This decision offers a clarifying lens through which to view the concept of distinctive character, particularly in relation to signs often dismissed as "banal."