The CJEU reasoning in Audi, then, probed the relationship between meanings of a claimed trademark sign. In doing so, it affirmed a core principle about language in intellectual property: that there is no property in a word or expression as such, but only insofar as a word or expression serves a claimed function (as a badge of origin, as a substantial part or whole of an original literary work etc). There is no necessary singularity of function: a text may indicate source, encourage purchases as a promotional slogan, and exhibit creative qualities of memorability and evocation all at the same time--a situation which however makes for challenging complexity when elliptical verbal texts come before the courts.