In its judgment of September 10, 2025, the General Court of the European Union (EuG) clarified that even a short audio melody can be eligible for registration as an EU trademark. The subject of the dispute was a short sound sequence registered by Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) with the EUIPO on March 5, 2023, as an EU sound mark (the sound sequence can be accessed here ). With the EU sound mark, the applicant intended to obtain protection for services in class 39, in particular for transport and transportation services as well as for the packaging and storage of goods and travel events.

The EUIPO examiner had previously rejected the trademark application on the grounds of lack of distinctiveness. The Board of Appeal upheld this decision on the grounds that the sound sequence was so short and banal that it lacked any recognizable value as an indication of the commercial origin of the services claimed.

However, the General Court did not agree with this assessment. The court first clarified that even a minimum degree of distinctiveness is sufficient to overcome the obstacle to registration and that the same assessment criteria apply to all categories of trademarks, including sound marks.

Furthermore, the court emphasized that short jingles are increasingly being used in the transport sector to create a recognizable acoustic identity in noisy environments. The BVG jingle, consisting of four different perceptible tones, has no connection with the services claimed and is neither technically nor functionally necessary. Even a possible use of the short sequence of tones as an introduction to announcements does not change its function as an indication of the commercial origin of the services. Especially in a noisy environment such as a train station, a short, concise sound can serve to clearly associate the services offered with a specific company and to distinguish them from the services of other providers.

In the case of the other services claimed, such as the packaging or storage of goods, it is not apparent either why the short sound sequence should not be able to serve as an indication of the commercial origin.

Accordingly, the General Court overturned the decision of the Board of Appeal in its entirety (General Court, judgment of September 10, 2025 - Ref.: T-288/24). The judgment thus sends a clear signal for the growing importance of sound marks in an increasingly audiovisual brand communication landscape.