By Katharina Reber · Published
MagazinaltAs of: 13.10.2015. The legal situation may have changed since.
Trademarks and Symbols have their own universe.
Take Apple and its conflict with a café in Bonn because of their logo (read here) for instance or the recently settled dispute between Haribos and Lindts gold bears (read here).
When it comes to brand recognition no similarity can be too far-fetched for the big (and sometimes small) companies. In most cases Goliath wins against David and the defeated have to retreat with their tails tucked between their legs.
The polish company Mocek and Wenta is no exception and has to pull their caiman tail out of the leather good, clothing and shoes business.
2007 they registered their characteristic caiman, its tail bent downwards, with the Harmonisierungsamt für den Binnenmarkt (HABM) for their goods and services. Lacoste objected against the entry and the HABM sustained that objection. No registration for the caiman as a company reference.
But Mocek and Wenta sued in front of the European Court of Justice and now they lose. (Case T-364/13)
The luxembourgian judges support the HABMs decision. The caiman causes in structure, composition and optic related to intersecting class of goods (leather goods, clothing and shoes) a too high likelihood of confusion for the customer.
The caiman, pictured in a profile with tail bent downwards, can too easily be mistaken for a variant of the Lacoste crocodile, pictured in a profile with tail bent upwards.
And that would be just tragic. Imagine a golf course where unsuspecting athletes suddenly present themselves with polo shirts of a polish brand instead of the established and popular pieces by Lacoste. The damage to their image would hardly be compensatable.
This is what the judges at the European Court of Justice must have been afraid of.
Now they can devote their weekends to their nine iron again, stress-free. (re)