TRADEMARK | The EU Court of Justice on trademarks consisting in a fashion designer’s surname

On 18 December 2025, the EU Court of Justice (CJEU) issued its judgment in case C-168/24 in response to a preliminary ruling by the French Supreme Court concerning the possibility of revoking a trade mark consisting of a fashion designer’s surname where the sign is used in such a way as to lead the public to believe that the designer is still involved in creating the products bearing the mark, whereas in fact they are not. The Court clarified that the mere fact that the creator is no longer involved in such activity does not automatically render the trade mark misleading, since the reasonably well-informed average consumer is aware that, in the relevant sector, a brand name may survive its founder, in the sense that not all goods designated by a trade mark containing a designer’s name are necessarily created by that designer. According to the Court, however, this does not preclude the revocation of the trademark concerned where its actual use results in actual deception or in a sufficiently serious risk of deception, including with regard to the stylistic authorship of the creations.

Newsletter n. 114 – January 2026