The slogan uttered by a Ukrainian border guard on Snake Island has become a symbol of defiance against Russian aggression – but it’s more political than commercial, the EU judges said.
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The slogan “Russian warship, go f*** yourself”, famously uttered by a Ukrainian border guard to invading forces, can’t be trademarked, the EU’s General Court ruled on Wednesday.
The saying, made as Russia attempted to capture Snake Island in the Black Sea, has become a symbol of Ukraine’s defiance, cited in street protests, billboards and stamps.
But a legal bid by the Ukrainian border service to claim commercial rights to use it on keyrings, bags and clothing doesn’t hold water, judges have ruled.
“The phrase in question has been used very intensively in a non-commercial context” linked to Russian aggression, the court said in a statement.
“It will therefore not be perceived by the relevant public as an indication of the commercial origin of the goods and services which it designates,” judges added.
According to an audio clip circulated by Ukrainian authorities, the expletive-laden communication was made in response to the Russian cruiser Moskva, which had told Ukrainians to lay down their weapons to avoid bloodshed.
Ukrainian authorities declared the 13 soldiers it said were killed in the incident to be national heroes. Kyiv later announced that they'd survived and been exchanged in a prisoner swap.
The judges’ ruling upholds a decision by the EU intellectual property office, which is responsible for registering EU-wide trademarks.
It’s one of a wide range of intellectual property rulings offered by the EU court – including one, also issued today, which refused to allow a trademark for the famous blue-and-yellow oval stickers placed on Chiquita bananas, which judges said were too generic to merit legal protection.
UPDATE (13 November, 7:11pm): adds context regarding prisoner swap.