TRADEMARK | The EU General Court on short jingle’s distinctiveness needed for trademark registration

On 10 September 2025, the General Court of the European Union (the GC) delivered its judgment in case T-288/24 (Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe v EUIPO), concerning a EU trademark application of a two-second, four-note jingle filed by the Berlin’s public transport company (the Trademark). The EUIPO had refused the application for lack of inherent distinctiveness under Article 7(1)(b) of the Regulation (EU) 2017/1001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2017 on the European Union trademark, deeming that the jingle is too short and banal for consumers to be perceived as a distinctive sign. The GC annulled that decision, holding that distinctiveness criteria are the same for all trademarks and even a brief, simple sound can meet the minimal threshold to indicate origin and be perceived from consumers as a trademark, rather than a mere functional noise. Moreover, the GC clarified that short jingles are commonly used in the transport sector to establish a recognizable sound identity. Furthermore, albeit being only few seconds long, the GC found that the Trademark was original and not dictated by any technical or service-related function.

Newsletter n. 111 – October 2025