Levi’s wins a second chance in court for its decorative jeans stitching
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Levi Strauss has won a court order to examine whether the decorative stitching on its jeans and other clothing should be protected as a generic mark in Switzerland.
Levi Strauss has secured a partial victory before the Federal Administrative Court. The Intellectual Property Office must now examine whether the decorative stitching has become established as a generic mark.
The San Francisco-based clothing manufacturer Levi Strauss & Co. applied to the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (IGE) for trademark protection for this specific figurative mark.
The application relates to items of clothing such as jeans, trousers, shorts and skirts, as stated in the recently published judgement.
The mark submitted depicts the outline of a back pocket with a curved double seam. The company refers to this curved seam as ‘Arcuate Back Pocket Stitching’.
According to the company, it has been applying this decorative stitching pattern to its jeans since 1873.
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The IGE rejected the trademark application in October 2025 for all goods. It stated that decorative stitching served primarily as decoration and not as an indication of a company. Levi Strauss appealed the decision to the Federal Administrative Court.
Public domain or iconic symbol
This court has now upheld the rejection on the main point. The judges view the application merely as a depiction of a standard back pocket. The dotted lines, they ruled, should be classified as decorative stitching in the context of legwear.
“The design elements are kept simple,” the judgement states. The mark is “rather banal in design” and does not deviate noticeably from the range of designs customary in the industry. The mark therefore belongs to the public domain.
However, the fashion company achieved a partial success with its alternative claim. The Swiss Institute of Intellectual Property must now investigate whether, as a result of intensive and long-standing use on the Swiss market, the decorative seam has become established as an indication of origin for the clothing.
Legal experts refer to this as ‘establishment through use’ in this context.
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Translated from German, reviewed by an English Department journalist.
