The General Court of the European Union in Luxembourg has ruled that the term "OPENAI" is descriptive and lacks distinctive character for software and IT services, dealing a blow to the artificial intelligence company's efforts to secure exclusive brand rights across the bloc.
OpenAI had applied to register the word mark with the EU Intellectual Property Office, but the application was partially rejected, particularly for software and cloud-computing services. The court dismissed OpenAI's arguments and noted that trademark registrations in other jurisdictions are not binding under EU trademark law.
The company may still appeal the decision to the Court of Justice of the European Union, the bloc's highest court, leaving the door open for a further legal challenge.