Overview

• The Court of Justice of the European Union dismissed Spreadshirt’s appeal (cases T-304/24 to T-306/24), upholding the EUIPO’s refusal of its position-specific trademark applications.
• Spreadshirt had applied to register the “I♥” symbol in three locations on garments: the left chest area, the inside label, and the outside neck.
• The EUIPO concluded that the design lacks distinctive character because shoppers immediately interpret it as “I love” and not as a sign of origin.
• Judges affirmed that specifying a symbol’s placement cannot convert a commonly used motif into a protected trademark.
• Spreadshirt previously lost a 2021 challenge to register the non-positioned “I love” sign after the court found it similarly devoid of distinctiveness.