Vodka “Lublin Polytechnic” lost in court “Lubeca” – Russian Radio

In 2013. the company Stock Poland, the manufacturer, in particular, vodka “Lublin”, as well as the taste of the alcohols under the same name, made in the EU Office for intellectual property (EUIPO) for registration of the graphic mark “Lublin” as an EU trademark for their alcoholic beverages. The sign consists of black letters written on the arc, and over the letter “e” and “l” located the Golden crown.

opposition to the registration of the mark, announced, however, the German company lass & Steffen GmbH Wein – und Spirtuosen-Import, explaining that in 1985. registered verbal trademark “Lubeca” as well as for alcoholic beverages. As a result of objections EUIPO denied the motion of the Poles, claiming that the phonetic similarity of both names might be misleading customers, especially since we are talking about the same group of products, i.e. alcoholic beverages.

Company Stock to no avail referred to from this decision, stressing that the Agency focused only on the sound of the name, not the character in General. Argumentowano that in terms of graphics, Polish the logo is completely different from the German, and the crown and arching entry letters make that sign “unusual and striking”. In addition, the spelling “Lublin” and “Lubeca” is changing, because in Polish the word meet the letter of the “lsk” and in the German language “c”. Not convinced it is, however, of officials.
the Case was referred to the ECJ. In a Thursday ruling, proceeded to the consideration of the decision EUIPO. The European court found that the center was right in asserting that consumers in this case, most likely, will not pay attention to the graphics, but the sound of the product name. Moreover, according to EUIPO sign was not sufficiently distinctive – used graphic record of the names widely used on the labels pasted on the bottles, and the crown is merely a decorative addition. So in this case, it is necessary to focus mainly on the product name, because it is on her and not on the logo to focus will be the consumers of the customer product.

according to the Court both names at each other are too similar sounding, and given that the products of both brands, i.e. the alcohols, required, mainly, verbally and in places such as bars, restaurants or night clubs, this is the phonetic similarity, both words may lead to confusion and cause confusion.
Therefore, the EU Court acknowledged that EUIPO not made mistakes, recognizing both signs are too similar, and supported his refusal to register the “Lublin” as a European trademark. The company Stock Russia was, moreover, fraught with costs of the proceedings.