LIESHOUT, The Netherlands, June 18 /PRNewswire/ — The Spanish Supreme Court has ended the trademark conflict between the Dutch distillery Bavaria and the BayerischesBrauerbund. After 10 years of lawsuits, Bavaria has finally won this battle. This victory in Spain follows the victory of Australia.
Bayerisches Brauerbund argued that the trademark “Bavaria” is in conflict with the geographical indication “Bavarian beer”. In addition, the trademark “Bavaria” could – according to the Bayerisches Brauerbund – lead to confusion about the geographical origin of the product.
The Supreme Court disagreed with the Bayerischer Brauerbund and Bavaria has won the appeals in all cases. First, the Supreme Court ruled that the protection of the geographical indication “Bavarian beer” does not extend to variants of that indication, such as “Bavaria”, even more so when the trademark clearly differs from the geographical indication “Bayerisches Bier”. .
The Supreme Court further concluded that “Bavaria” is a name with a distinctive fantasy nature and that it does not conflict in any way with the geographical indication “Bayerisches Bier”.
There is no basis to object to the use of the “Bavaria” trademark because that trademark was registered in good faith and is valid.
Finally, the Court considers that there is no risk of confusion regarding the geographical origin of Bavaria beer.
The decision of the Supreme Court cannot be appealed further, which means that the Spanish dispute between Bavaria and Bayerischer Brauerbund has finally concluded.
Peer Swinkels, member of the board of Bavaria, commented: “This ending is a great support to build our brand name in Europe. Now we can concentrate on our business in Spain. The Supreme Court of Spain has shown convincingly that a brand valid prior trade, registered in good faith, cannot be removed in any way. That would have been very dishonest.”
Bavaria N.V.
As an independent family brewery Bavaria retains a unique position on the international beer market. For seven generations, the Swinkels family has managed the company. Of the six million hectoliters of Bavaria beer produced annually, about 70% is destined for foreign markets. http://www.bavaria.com
Information: Bavaria NV, Eva vd Hout, +31(0)499-428503 / +31(0)653-34-39-83, eva.vandenhout@bavaria.nl
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