TRADEMARK | EU General Court denies registration to Ukraine’s political slogan

On 13 November 2024, the EU General Court issued its decision in case T-82/24, confirming the EUIPO’s refusal to register the figurative sign consisting of the phrase “RUSSIAN WARSHIP, GO F* *K yourself” in Russian and English, which had been widely used and disseminated by the media in order to rally support for Ukraine and had become very quickly a symbol of Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression. Since the phrase in question has been used very intensively in a political non-commercial context, the Court found that the sign is not perceived by the relevant public as an indication of the commercial origin of the goods and services which it designates, thus not fulfilling the essential function of a trademark.

Newsletter n. 102 – December 2024