Can a political party use a trademark in its political agenda?

The case of IKEA in the EU.

Vlaams Belang (Vlaams), a Flemish nationalist party, used the IKEA trademark in a campaign focused on immigration policies.

Dissatisfied with this use, the multinational Swedish corporation filed an infringement claim with Belgian courts. The case was referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union as there was doubt about the legitimacy of Vlaams´s fundamental right to freedom of expression in using the IKEA trademark in a type of political parody.

The opinion of the Advocate General was that a political program in itself is not a product or service, and although the use of a trademark in a political program may garner association with the title holder, this does not mean that the sign is being used in relation to goods and/or services.

The foregoing is relevant because the first element of analysis in an infringement test, as indicated by case law on the matter, is whether a trademark is being used by a third-party as a trademark to identify products and services in the market.

In the words of the AG, ¨a political program…is informative in nature, setting out the objectives and plan of action of the entity which drew it up or adopted it.¨ Thus, the fact that a sign may be associated in the mind of the consumer with the entity that disseminated it, this does not imply that the sign was used in relation to goods or services.

This being the case, if the Court of Justice agrees with the AG´s opinion, which is relatively common, this would imply that Vlaams´s use of the trademark may be considered non-infringing.

It should be noted in this context, however, that the Directive on Trademarks allows member states the possibility of introducing rules in order to take action against the use of a trademark when it is used other than for goods and services.

This possibility has only been implemented by Italy and Benelux, and may be applied in the present case to resolve the questioned use as infringing, even if it has not been done in relation to “goods and services.”

Link to the resolution: click here

December 03, 2025