'Touch your boobs' not contrary to accepted principles of morality

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'Touch your boobs' not contrary to accepted principles of morality

 Söğüt Atilla-Aydın Monday, May 25, 2026 - accepted principles of morality, Article 7(1)(f) EUTMR, EUIPO, Söğüt Atilla-Aydın, TOUCH YOUR BOOBS

On 7 May, the Fifth Board of Appeal (BoA) of the EUIPO held that the word mark “TOUCH YOUR BOOBS” is not contrary to public policy or to accepted principles of morality under Article 7(1)(f) of the EU Trade Mark Regulation (EUTMR). Contrary to the examiner, the BoA found that the mark would not be perceived as an unduly sexual or offensive phrase.

Background

In July 2025, Katjes Fassin GmbH and Co. KG (applicant) filed an application to register “TOUCH YOUR BOOBS” as a word mark in Class 30 of the Nice Classification for various confectionary products, such as flavoured popcorn, fruit-flavoured sweets, and marshmallows.

The EUIPO examiner held that the relevant public, identified as the English-speaking public, perceives the sign as a shocking and offensive phrase. Moreover, the examiner emphasised that, since the goods are primarily, or at least also, addressed at children and young people, the protection of minors requires prohibiting sexual, degrading, or obscene content from entering the market.

The applicant appealed to the BoA.

A Kat, ready to enjoy some sweets!

Board’s decision

The first point that the applicant emphasised is that, as opposed to the examiner’s finding, the sign does not invite consumers to touch the breasts of third parties and so, is not intrusive. Instead, it is a self-referential expression. Additionally, even when the products bearing the sign are purchased by one individual and given to another, the phrase cannot be treated as an instruction given by the purchaser to the recipient. As one of a trade mark’s functions is to communicate certain messages to the public, “TOUCH YOUR BOOBS” will be perceived as a message, coming from the trade mark owner, attempting to raise self-awareness. Building on this final point, the applicant stated that the socially established meaning of the phrase, which is regularly used in the context of raising awareness for the importance of regular self-checks and examinations for the early diagnosis of breast cancer, should not be neglected. Finally, although the applicant accepted that the protection of minors may be a relevant factor, it nevertheless emphasised that this protection should not mean prohibiting any direct reference to body parts in trade marks, unless they are used in sexual or offensive ways.

The BoA reinforced that, rather than considering the words individually and highlighting the possibility that certain consumers – who may be highly sensitive or easily offended – might understand the phrase as an offensive expression, the decisive factor is the relevant consumer’s perception of the phrase as a trade mark. Accordingly, the Board held that the perception of a reasonably well-informed, observant, and circumspect average consumer with an average threshold of sensitivity and tolerance needs to be taken into account. The Board then considered that (i) ‘boobs’ is predominantly used in colloquial language, particularly by women, to refer to ‘breasts’, (ii) as opposed to ‘tits’, ‘boobs’ is not considered an obscene word, and (iii) some charities and schools use the word ‘boobs’ as well as the phrase ‘touch your boobs’ in their campaigns and training programmes, also to educate minors.

Against this background, and especially given that charities and schools cannot be treated as using an obscene term as part of their activities, the BoA held that “TOUCH YOUR BOOBS” is not an offensive phrase, but rather, will be perceived as a breast cancer awareness campaign, and therefore, cannot be refused registration under Article 7(1)(f) EUTMR.

Comment

Treating a phrase which invites people to touch their own boobs as contrary to accepted principles of morality would have been a challenging conclusion to comprehend, especially given the widespread use of similar slogans to encourage women to regularly examine their breasts. Putting forward a claim for the protection of minors from obscene, sexual, or vulgar content was, likewise, not a sensible attempt, as it is highly unlikely for a reasonable person, whether an adult or a child, to be offended by a trade mark consisting of these words. It may be surprising, unexpected, or even weird to see those words appearing on packages of sweets and chocolates: however, this oddity cannot justify invoking Article 7(1)(f), which is clearly intended to prevent the use of genuinely disturbing visuals and phrases as trade marks.

It is also worth noting that even if ‘boobs’ or ‘touch your boobs’ were vulgar words, Article 7(1)(f) of the EUTMR does not necessitate the refusal of all such words, as has been clarified by the BoA previously [see IPKat here, and the decision here]. Especially when considered against the significance of early diagnosis of breast cancer, rejecting the registration of this phrase by stating that it is contrary to the accepted principles of morality would have amounted to an unreasonable censorship and have risked distorting the purposes of self-awareness campaigns.

Despite remitting the case back to the first instance for re-examination, the BoA did mention a potential ground for refusal: lack of distinctive character under Article 7(1)(b) of the EUTMR. The Board was concerned that the widespread public use of ‘touch your boobs’ and similar slogans might prevent “TOUCH YOUR BOOBS” from indicating the commercial origin of the goods in question.

Additionally, Article 7(1)(g) may also be a relevant absolute ground for refusal to consider. The applicant seems to be dedicated to producing confectionery with natural and plant-based ingredients [here]. The applicant has also argued that it should be possible for a company to produce its goods while at the same time addressing social issues, such as breast cancer. However, merely producing ‘healthy’ snacks and claiming to support social campaigns may not be sufficient to refute a ground for refusal based on misleading consumers. Therefore, it seems necessary for the examiners to consider whether the applicant is creating a misleading image in the mind of the relevant consumer – such as implying that donations are made from the sales of its “TOUCH YOUR BOOBS”-packaged products – by using a slogan so closely tied to the activities and campaigns for raising awareness for breast cancer.

Photo by DL314 Lin on Unsplash

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