The sentence « RUSSIAN WARSHIP, GO F**K YOURSELF »in Russian “Russian warship, go to hell! » cannot be registered as a trademark, the General Court of the European Union (EU), located in Luxembourg, ruled this Wednesday, November 13.
The insult hurled by a Ukrainian border guard at a Russian naval officer — broadcast by radio on Serpents’ Island in the northwest Black Sea on the first day of Ukraine’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine Russia, February 24, 2022 — has become one of the symbols of Ukrainian resistance.
The National Border Guard Service of Ukraine (SBGS) therefore sought to trademark this phrase within the EU, in Russian and English. The European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), however, rejected the application, on the grounds that it was a political expression and not a commercial one. The SBGS appealed, but the EU General Court upheld the EUIPO’s decision.
The SBGS said it wanted to use the phrase for souvenir gifts, publications, educational and entertainment purposes, but also for sports, in Russian and English.
The EUIPO considers, however, that this sentence is “a political slogan devoid of any distinctive character for the products and services in question”according to a press release from the Court.
The General Court confirmed the EUIPO’s assessment, finding that the sentence “had been widely used and disseminated by the media, immediately after its first use, in order to rally support for Ukraine and had very quickly become a symbol of Ukraine’s struggle against Russian aggression.”
Therefore, “this phrase was used in a political context, repetitively and with the aim of expressing and promoting support for Ukraine”indicates the press release.
The Court declared that“a sign is incapable of fulfilling the essential function of a trademark if the average consumer does not perceive, in its presence, the indication of the origin of the products or services, but only a political message”.
“The expression in question has been used very extensively in a non-commercial context [l’agression russe] and will necessarily be very closely associated with this context” by ordinary people. The public was unlikely to interpret the expression as a commercial message, the court ruled.
Registered trademarks accepted by the EUIPO are valid throughout the Union and coexist with national trademarks. The SBGS has two months and ten days to appeal the Tribunal’s decision to the EU’s highest court, the Court of Justice of the EU.
