Trademark Slogans

Slogans are key elements in advertising campaigns as brand owners hope that consumers will associate the slogan with their products or services and, therefore, to their brand. For instance, many will recognise “I’m loving it” as a slogan for McDonald’s, or “Every little helps” as a slogan for Tesco.

However, brand owners often face difficulties in attempting to protect their slogan as under trade mark law many have been refused on the grounds that a slogan is purely descriptive, or lacks distinctiveness. For example, the UK Trade Mark Registry refused protection to the slogan “Say it with chocolates” as they contended that this slogan did no more than simply promote the purchase of chocolates as a gift.

Although they are not explicitly listed among the signs likely to constitute a trademark, slogans can, in principle, be protected under the law which protects trademarks.

If a brand owner wishes to secure protection for their slogan it is necessary for them to prove that the slogan they wish to protect has acquired a secondary meaning on its own. A slogan is thought to have acquired a secondary meaning if the brand owner can demonstrate that the use of this slogan by another party would cause confusion amongst consumers as to the producer or provider of the goods or services.

The European Union’s Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market has been strict in assessing the distinctiveness of slogans. Some of the slogans which they have refused to provide protection to are: “Passion for wood” for building materials; “Leave an impression” for bar, entertainment and advertising services; “Everywhere on earth” for transport services; “A dream pastry” for pastries; “Play for your country” for services for arranging golf tournaments; and “Night of champions” for entertainment services. The reason these slogan were refused is that they did not identify the goods or services themselves, which is the purpose of a trademark, rather; they merely advertised positive aspects of the goods.

Nonetheless, an ostensible exception is the Audi slogan “Vorsprung durch Technik” which translates to “Advancement through technology” which was accepted by the European Union’s Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market. The Office held that it was not necessary for a slogan to display imaginativeness.

Joanna Togneri Southampton Solent Law Student