Brussels - An exclamation mark cannot count as a trade mark, the European Union's court ruled on Wednesday as it turned down an application from German fashion designer Joop!.

Joop! applied to have two versions of the punctuation mark registered as trade marks for clothes and jewellery in September 2006, but the EU's trademark office, OHIM, turned down the application.

The designs featured an exclamation mark in a single box and a double box.

Joop! challenged the OHIM decision in the European Court, arguing that the two logos were sufficiently distinctive that customers would be able to tell that they referred to the German designer.

But the court rejected that argument, saying that "the consumer, including a consumer having a high degree of attention, will not be in a position to infer the origin of the goods designated by relying on a mere exclamation mark."

The box-like frame did not help Joop!'s case because "placing the mark inside a label-like rectangle is a very common practice in the relevant commercial sector," the court ruled.

Joop! can appeal the decision within two months if it feels that the court misinterpreted EU law.

However, given the sweeping nature of the rejection, it appears likely that the EU has brought the exclamation mark's marketing career to a full stop. (dpa)