The EU's General Court dismissed Chiquita Brands Inc.'s challenge of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) denial to trademark part of its logo. 

The company originally submitted part of its logo, a blue and yellow oval, to the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) for trademark registration, in response, the Compagnie financière de participation (Marseilles, France) applied to EUIPO for a declaration that the mark was invalid. In its view, that mark lacked any distinctive character.

In 2023, the trademark was declared invalid by EUIPO but only for fresh fruits, including bananas, the company's most distributed commodity. 

The brand then challenged the organization before the General Court of the EU and was dismissed because, according to the Court, "neither the shape nor the blue and yellow color scheme of the mark confers distinctive character on it." 

In a press release, the General Court added that the "shape of the mark corresponds to that of a simple geometric figure (a variation of an oval), with no easily and instantly memorable characteristics. In addition, oval labels are commonly used in the sector of bananas, as they are easy to stick onto curved fruits. Consequently, that shape will not be capable of attracting the attention of the public or enable it to identify the commercial origin of the fresh fruits designated by the mark."

EU trademarks and Community designs are valid for the entire territory of the European Union and coexist with national trademarks.