EU Court: No Protection for ‘I love’ Design on Clothing

Luxembourg (dpa) – The German online company Spreadshirt cannot protect the well-known combination of “I” and a red heart as an EU trademark in certain positions on clothing. The Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg confirmed decisions of the EU trademark office EUIPO and dismissed a lawsuit from the company against it.

EU Trademark Office had rejected registration 

Spreadshirt had applied to register three so-called position marks – the “I” with heart symbol on the left chest area, on the inner label, and on the outside in the neck area of garments. The EU Trademark Office had rejected the registration because the signs lacked the necessary distinctiveness. 

According to the office, consumers do not perceive the symbols as trademarks of a specific company regardless of their position. The sign is immediately understood as “I love”.

This assessment has now been confirmed by the EU court. Regarding the sign, the judges state: “Even if it is claimed for certain exact positions, it is not suitable to distinguish the goods in question from those of other companies.”

Already in 2021, Spreadshirt had failed in court to register the “I love” symbol as a trademark – at that time without a specific position. The EU court had also declared the registration null and void because the symbol merely consisted of the well-known combination of signs and lacked sufficient distinctiveness. (July 9)