Court of Appeal Upholds Non-Infringement in YouTube Shorts Dispute

A short film company, Shorts International Limited, failed in its bid to overturn a High Court ruling that Google’s YouTube Shorts service did not infringe its registered trade marks. The Court of Appeal confirmed in May 2026 that the word “shorts” had become descriptive of short-form audiovisual content in the relevant sector, limiting the scope of protection for the claimant’s marks. It upheld findings that the marks lacked sufficient distinctiveness for infringement under section 10(2) of the Trade Marks Act 1994 and dismissed related claims. The court also affirmed the invalidity of a word mark for “SHORTSTV” on descriptiveness grounds while allowing limited protection for certain figurative marks. In September 2026 the Supreme Court received an application for permission to appeal on how distinctiveness should be assessed in confusion cases. The dispute highlights the challenges of enforcing marks built around common descriptive terms in fast-evolving digital markets.

Small businesses should seek professional advice before registering marks containing everyday words to ensure they possess adequate distinctive character.