#62025TJ0465EU court upholds EUIPO refusal to register 'FI' figurative trade marks for investment and seminar services
AI-generated summary for informational purposes only. Not legal advice. See the original source for the authoritative text.
The EU General Court upheld EUIPO’s refusal to register Fisher Investments’ figurative EU trade marks made up of “FI” and simple graphic elements. The court said the signs would be understood by part of the relevant public as referring to a financial institution, and that is enough to make them descriptive for investment management, advisory, and related seminar services. For businesses, the practical message is simple: short, plain acronyms can be refused if they point to what the business does. Prior registrations at EUIPO or in other countries do not guarantee approval. Companies seeking EU trade marks should make sure the sign does more than describe the service or the sector.
AI-generated summary. May contain errors. Refer to official sources for legal decisions.
Key Changes
- EUIPO may refuse short acronym-based trade marks if the acronym can describe the service or sector.
- Simple graphic styling will not save a mark if the word element still reads as descriptive.
- Earlier EU or foreign registrations do not control the outcome of a new EU trade mark application.
Obligations
What this law requires
EU trade mark applicants must ensure that a sign does not consist exclusively of indications that the relevant public may immediately understand as describing the kind, characteristics, or other features of the services, because such descriptive signs are not registrable under Article 7(1)(c) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001.
When seeking EU trade mark protection for services in one Member State or across the EU, applicants must assess descriptiveness from the perspective of the relevant public in at least part of the European Union; if the sign is descriptive in part of the EU, registration can still be refused under Article 7(2) of Regulation (EU) 2017/1001.
Trade mark applicants should not rely on prior EUIPO registrations or foreign registrations as proof that a similar sign will be accepted, because the Court treated those examples as inconclusive in the descriptiveness assessment.
Applicants using short acronyms or initials in figurative marks must ensure that the acronym is not commonly recognised by the relevant public as a descriptive term for the offered services, because an acronym with a descriptive meaning can still be refused if that meaning is immediately perceived.
Where a mark includes simple graphic elements, applicants should not assume those elements will overcome descriptiveness if they merely highlight the word element without changing its meaning or perception.