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The European Court of Justice confirmed the European Union Intellectual Property Office decision that barred registration of the word mark OpenAI. The Luxembourg-based court agreed that the name describes the activity of developing open artificial intelligence systems rendering it ineligible for exclusive trademark rights in the EU. OpenAI had challenged the EUIPO initial refusal through an appeal process that ultimately reached the highest level.
The US company sought to overturn the determination that accepted protection for its visual logo but not the textual name itself. According to the judgment even prolonged use of the term did not establish the necessary secondary meaning among the relevant public in the European Union. Provisions under Articles 7(1)(b) and 7(1)(c) of the European Trade Mark Regulation formed the basis for the sustained rejection.
This case forms part of a pattern of decisions concerning artificial intelligence terminology. The EUIPO Cancellation Division invalidated OpenAI-associated GPT trademarks in four rulings issued during October 2025 after finding them generic for the claimed goods and services. Century Tal Holding Pte Ltd successfully challenged the registrations on distinctiveness grounds.
EUIPO figures show that European Union trademark applications totaled 196984 during 2025 an increase from prior years as innovation sectors continue to drive filings. Data from the office indicates that word marks represented 56 percent of applications in recent tallies. Officials apply consistent criteria to evaluate whether marks possess the inherent capacity to distinguish one enterprise from another.
The Wednesday ruling means OpenAI fails to trademark name in EU despite its prominent role in the development of generative AI tools such as ChatGPT. The company founded in 2015 maintains that its name has acquired distinctiveness through widespread international recognition. However the court required proof specific to the European market that consumers associate the term exclusively with the applicant.
OpenAI has secured trademark protection in various other regions and recently prevailed in a US court case against a similarly named entity called Open Artificial Intelligence Inc. According to court records from California the judge ordered the defendant to cease using confusingly similar marks. Such contrasts highlight differing approaches to trademark evaluation across jurisdictions.
