OpenAI Loses Trademark Dispute in EU Court

OpenAI, the tech company known for its AI model ChatGPT, has failed in its lawsuit before the Court of Justice of the European Union challenging the refusal to register the word mark “OPENAI.”

The judges in Luxembourg ruled that, for certain goods and services in the software and IT sectors, the designation is purely descriptive and therefore lacks distinctiveness. The ruling may still be appealed to the Court of Justice of the European Union.

In its ruling, the court upheld a decision by the EU Intellectual Property Office. The office had partially rejected OpenAI's trademark application, for example, for software and cloud computing services.

It was stated that, for the relevant audience, the term “open” (in English: open) meant that a service was freely accessible. When combined with “AI” (short for artificial intelligence), it is understood to mean that the products in question are based on freely accessible artificial intelligence.

Among other things, OpenAI had argued that the term “open” could have multiple meanings. Furthermore, “OPENAI” is a made-up compound word with no fixed meaning. The company also cited earlier, comparable trademark registrations by the EU Intellectual Property Office, as well as other registrations in more than 30 countries, including the United Kingdom and Singapore.

The court rejected these arguments. It held that the phrase was not an unusual linguistic combination in English. Furthermore, the court stated that registrations in other legal systems are not binding under EU trademark law.