Audi loses bid to trademark ‘TDI’ in European court
Judges ruled that ‘TDI’ describes a technical feature and cannot be registered as a trademark, rejecting Audi and Volkswagen’s appeal in 2011.
Audi and Volkswagen’s attempt to secure ‘TDI’ as a registered trademark in the European Union ended in defeat after the European General Court upheld a decision by the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (OHIM) to refuse the application. The ruling, delivered in July 2011, means the term remains free for use by other manufacturers to describe turbocharged diesel injection technology.
Why the court rejected Audi’s application
The case centred on whether ‘TDI’—widely understood as standing for ‘Turbo Diesel Injection’ or ‘Turbo Direct Injection’—was sufficiently distinctive to function as a trademark. Audi and Volkswagen had applied for the word mark ‘TDI’ in Class 12, covering vehicles and engines. OHIM’s examiner refused registration, arguing that the abbreviation merely described a technical property of the goods, not a brand or source.
Audi and Volkswagen appealed, but the Board of Appeal dismissed their case. The companies then took the matter to the General Court, seeking to annul the Board’s decision. The court sided with OHIM, stating that ‘TDI’ was not a proprietary mark but an industry term indicating a product feature. Under EU law, terms that describe characteristics of goods cannot be registered as trademarks, as this would unfairly restrict competitors from using common technical language.
Audi’s position and global trademark status
Audi maintains that ‘TDI’ is a recognised brand identifier for its diesel models and points out that the term has been registered as a trademark in several other countries. In the European Union, however, the court’s decision means Audi cannot prevent rivals from using the same abbreviation to describe similar diesel technologies. The ruling leaves open the possibility of continued disputes over technical terms used as marketing tools, especially as manufacturers compete to establish proprietary nomenclature for engine and drivetrain technologies.
Trademark disputes in the car industry
The failed ‘TDI’ registration highlights the challenges carmakers face when seeking exclusive rights to technical abbreviations. While some names, such as BMW’s ‘M’ or Mercedes’ ‘AMG’, have achieved trademark status due to their strong association with specific brands, terms that describe engineering features are more difficult to protect. Similar disputes have arisen in the industry, including BMW’s efforts to trademark model designations and Tesla’s trademark issues in China (see Tesla Enters Beijing Under "Tuosule" Name Amid Trademark Dispute).
- Technical abbreviations like ‘TDI’ are generally not eligible for trademark protection in the EU if they describe product features.
- Brand-specific names or model codes with no descriptive meaning stand a better chance of registration.
