EU court exclaims

An EU court has ruled that the clothes and jewellery maker, JOOP! cannot register an exclamation mark as a trade mark because it will be seen by consumers as just 'laudatory advertising or an eye-catching gimmick'.  The exclamation mark is not deemed distinctive enough and is unlikely to indicate to consumers the commercial origin of the goods, which is the function of a trade mark. JOOP! had applied to register a trade mark for both a single exclamation mark and a boxed exclamation mark!
Out-law.com, 1 October 2009