What are trademarks and what do they protect
A trademark’s main role is to identify the commercial origin of goods and services. In other words, to tell consumers “this product comes from Company X.” Because of this, virtually all national trademark legislations set absolute grounds for refusal: categories of signs that are not eligible for registration regardless of who tries to register them.
Absolute grounds ensure the trademark system remains fair and functional: they protect public interests, consumer information, and free competition by preventing exclusive rights over terms that should remain available to all market participants.
City names and geographical terms
At first glance, a city name like Paris or Lisbon might seem like a perfect brand choice, especially for lifestyle, fashion, food, or hospitality businesses. However, under trademark law, city names sit in a grey area. They are not automatically excluded from registration, but they are closely examined to ensure they do not simply describe where goods or services come from or what consumers can expect from them.
When city names cause problems
Under trademark law, an application will be refused if the sign consists exclusively of indications that may serve, in trade, to designate the geographical origin of goods or services or other characteristics such as quality, reputation, or purpose.
In practice, this means that place names commonly associated with certain products or services are difficult to monopolise. For example:
Champagne cannot be registered for sparkling wine because it designates a protected wine-producing region.
Provence may be refused for lavender essential oils if consumers perceive it as indicating where those products come from.
These restrictions exist to keep geographical terms available to all traders whose products genuinely originate from those locations, preventing one company from gaining an unfair competitive advantage.
When city names can be trademarked
Despite these limits, city names can be registered as trade marks under the right conditions. Registration is possible where the city name does not function as a description of origin, quality, or reputation for the goods or services concerned, and where consumers perceive it primarily as a brand, not a place.
When assessing such applications, national offices typically consider:
Public perception: Whether the relevant public would see the name as indicating geographical origin.
Strength of association: Whether the city is known or famous for the goods or services in question.
Distinctive use: Whether the name is used and recognised in the market as a trade mark rather than as geographical information.
In short, a city name can work as a trademark only if it identifies your business, not the place itself.
Flags, coats of arms, and official symbols
Flags and official state emblems are protected under Article 6ter of the Paris Convention (an international treaty that guides trademark practice worldwide) and national office’s examination guidelines. These symbols cannot be registered as trademarks if their use would suggest an official connection or imply endorsement by a government or public body.
The logic is simple: allowing private companies to monopolize flags or official seals would create confusion and could falsely imply state sponsorship or authenticity. Imagine if one company controlled the flag of France as a trademark, it could seriously mislead consumers and even undermine public institutions’ authority.
Descriptive words: “organic”, “bio”, and similar terms
Descriptive marks are not distinctive
A fundamental rule under trademark law is that a mark must be distinctive. If a term merely describes a quality or characteristic of the product (e.g., organic cotton shirts) it generally cannot function as a trademark because it doesn’t tell consumers who the product comes from. Instead, it tells them something about the product itself.
Trademarks that consist exclusively of descriptive signs are refused by national offices. That includes straightforward terms like “organic” for products that are organic.
Special legal status of “Organic”
On top of trademark law, words like “organic”, “bio”, “eco” may be regulated by additional legislation. This happens, for example, in Europe, where these words and their equivalents are regulated by EU organic production rules. This means any use of these terms in product labeling or branding is governed by strict conditions about how the product is made and certified.
This European regulatory setting illustrates why “organic” cannot serve as a trademark on its own in most countries:
Consumers expect organic to convey a regulated quality standard.
Giving one company exclusive rights to that term would interfere with market transparency and competition.
Conclusion
Trademark law balances commercial rights with fair competition and consumer protection. That’s why simple city names, official flags, and widely descriptive terms like “organic” often can’t be monopolised as trademarks:
City names risk being seen as geographical descriptions unless proven otherwise.
Flags and official symbols are generally excluded because they carry public meaning.
Descriptive words lack the distinctiveness required to identify commercial origin and are tied to separate regulatory schemes.
Understanding these principles will help you craft stronger, legally sustainable brands that national offices are more likely to approve, and that consumers will trust.
