SLOGANS: Can They Be Registered As Trade Marks?

A trade mark is a trader’s badge of quality for its product or service, and a registered trade mark is a powerful legal right for its owner, who can prevent similar marks being used for similar goods. In some circumstances, possession of a trade mark can stop the use of a similar mark on dissimilar goods if the mark has a special reputation.

Brand owners pay considerable amounts to advertising and marketing agencies to devise catchy slogans in order to promote and advertise their products and to leave their key brand message in the mind of the target audience. But to what extent can they protect their investments and register these valuable slogans as trade marks?

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) recently ruled on the registrability of slogans as trade marks in Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market v Erpo Möbelwerk GmbH (Case C-64/02). The case is the latest in a line of recent cases that have dealt with the issue of slogans as trade marks and will hopefully further