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ARTICLE · 08 SEPTEMBER 2022

Having A Moment: John Lewis's New Slogan Selection

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The retail sector press seems underwhelmed by John Lewis's new slogan, "For all life's moments", which has been announced as the replacement for its famous strapline "Never Knowingly Undersold".

United KingdomIntellectual Property
Marks & Clerk
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The retail sector press seems underwhelmed by John Lewis's new slogan, "For all life's moments", which has been announced as the replacement for its famous strapline "Never Knowingly Undersold". The issue seems to be that the new slogan doesn't really convey what John Lewis has to offer.

Just like words and logos, slogans can be registered as trade marks, provided there is something about them which is distinctive enough for consumers to recognise as an indication of trade origin. Some low-level detective work at the UK IPO shows that the slogan FOR ALL LIFE'S MOMENTS was also underwhelming to the UK IPO, which refused an application to register it in August 2021. Instead, registration has been secured for JOHN LEWIS FOR ALL LIFE'S MOMENTS and FOR ALL LIFE'S MOMENTS: JOHN LEWIS. In these cases the famous house mark JOHN LEWIS makes the whole slogan distinctive enough to register as a trade mark. 

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