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People love a lot of things—and they really love saying they love those things, especially when it’s splashed across a T-shirt.
But as much as we might love pizza, dogs, or Paris, it turns out you can’t corner the market on the “I ♥” phrase itself.
Europe’s top court ruled today that the iconic “I ♥” symbol can’t be registered as a trademark for clothing like T-shirts and sweatshirts.
In short, no one gets exclusive rights to the universal language of affection.
This decision could have ripple effects for other fashion brands hoping to lock down popular or generic symbols as their own.
Back in 2022, the German company sprd.net tried to trademark three versions of the “I ♥” design in the EU.
The idea was to get the intellectual rights of a capital “I” followed by a red heart, printed on three specific parts of clothing — left chest, inside label, and behind the neck.
This was not considered distinctive enough for the EU Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), which analysed the request.
The EU office rejected the applications, pointing out that the symbol simply reads as “I love”, a message so common that it can’t reasonably be traced back to any one brand.
Substantially, the symbol lacked the distinctive character, the essential criterion used by EUIPO for granting trademark protection.
As in the world of fashion, hearts and declarations of love are just about everywhere, the “I ♥” doesn’t quite make the cut.
The company sprd.net didn’t give up without a fight, and they appealed to the EU General Court, arguing that the specific placement of the logo gave it a unique character.
But the Court wasn’t feeling the love, and they sided with the EUIPO, ruling that neither the symbol nor where it appears on the clothing items is not enough to distinguish the products from those of other brands.
The ruling reinforces the principle that commonly used symbols and expressions, even when stylised or strategically placed, cannot be monopolised through trademark registration unless they clearly identify the source of a product.
In a nutshell, you can still ‘love’ anything you want, but don’t expect to trademark the expression as it is just too beloved to belong to any one person.
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