Dr. Florian Schwab in WTR Daily on the EUIPO’s refusal to register the Porsche sound mark

Porsche applied to register an electronic sound sequence simulating the rapid acceleration of an engine. EUIPO refused the application, finding that the sound mark was devoid of distinctive character.

In its article “EUIPO refuses to register Porsche’s sound mark” on the online portal of the trade journal World Trademark Review, WTR Daily, dated September 7, 2023, BOEHMERT & BOEHMERT partner and lawyer Dr. Florian Schwab discusses a decision of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) dated August 25, 2023 unfavorable towards Porsche.

In this decision, the EUIPO denied the registrability of a sound trademark of Porsche – in the form of the artificial reproduction of an accelerating engine – for lack of distinctiveness for the claimed goods of, inter alia, motor vehicles, model vehicles and various digital services and refused registration.

Interestingly, the German office registered the corresponding sound mark and the EUIPO also granted protectability to a quite comparable sound mark of another automobile group. The filing of an appeal by Porsche would come as little surprise.

The complete article by Dr. Schwab is available online in English for registered users of WTR Daily here!