Beautifully timed just before
Easter, the German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichthof, case reference I ZR 72/12) has today
delivered some bad news to Swiss confectioner Lindt & Sprüngli in one of the
longest-running gold bunny trade mark battles: a defeat in the 12 year dispute
between Lindt and its German competitor Riegelein.
According to
German media reports (here and here), Germany’s highest court in civil matters refused to grant
Lindt’s final appeal against a decision by the Higher Regional Court of
Frankfurt (Oberlandesgericht Frankfurt), which in 2011 had held that there was
no likelihood of confusion between Lindt’s famous chocolate bunny (right above) and
Riegelein’s slightly more bronze coloured bunny (left above).
Now, if this post looks familiar
to you and reading it feels like a déjà vu experience then you will not be
surprised to learn that this is already the third time the Bundesgerichtshof has
decided in this dispute. This time it appears - from the media
reports so far available - the court only had to decide a procedural point:
Lindt’s “Nichtzulassungsbeschwerde” - that is whether the lower court rightfully
refused a further appeal to its last decision in this
matter. The Frankfurt court's decision is thus now final.
Initial reports state that
Riegelein feels that “justice has been done” and Lindt is “very, very
disappointed”.
It is now for German consumers to decide which
bunny they prefer – if they can see a difference that
is.
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