Brand law: judgment in the special process: Paulaner wins against Berentzen

Paulaner prevailed in the legal dispute over the design of a cola mix bottle against Berentzen. The bottles of the MIO MIO COLA+ORANGE Mixing of the company from Lower Saxony, especially for spirits from Lower Saxony, are too similar to the special bottles of the Munich brewery, the district court in Munich I. It was condemned Mio Mio to refrain from selling the drink in this design, otherwise there would be a fine of up to 250,000 euros. In addition, MIO million must pay compensation and destroy all bottles that have already been produced in its possession. However, the judgment is not yet final.

The court was not concerned with the question of whether the two bottles could be confused, but whether the color design could bring customers the idea that the million-MIO product belonged to Paulans.

“We are pleased that the court has fully followed our legal opinion,” said Birgit Zacher, spokeswoman for Paulaner. You will now be looking for a conversation with Berentzen. “We are not concerned with demanding compensation, but about protecting our color brand.” She did not say whether Paulaner would insist on the destruction of the bottles already generated.

Ultimately, Berentzen had unsuccessfully argued in the process that colorful design often occurs in cola mix drinks. It is absurd that the consumer in the supermarket came up with the idea because of colors and shapes that Mio million belongs to Paulaner. In addition, circles and no waves were shown on their bottle. The design is also not said to have been inspired by Paulaner. Rather, the idea comes from a similarly designed wallpaper in the former student room of today’s marketing director.

However, this anecdote did not cease in court. The Paulaner lawyer had already considered the wallpaper irrelevant at the hearing in early July. Legally, the question of whether Berentzen has their own and older counter -rights – but they would not result from the existence of a wallpaper on the wall, he said at the time. A position that the court was now joining.

Not the first special procedure

Paulaner had the shaft design of his bottle protected in the colors yellow, orange, red, pink and purple. It was not the first time that the Munich saw it injured and therefore moved to court. It was only in March that the district court also decided in a similar case in favor of the Munich. At that time it was about the “Brauerlimo” of the Karlsberg brewery in Homburg.

Why Paulaner moved to court

What fears Paulaner if competitors bring cola-mix drinks onto the market whose bottles are similar? That would weaken your own brand, it says from the brewery. At some point, the five-color wave no longer serves as proof of origin. If you do not proceed against similar products, you undermine your own legal position and then no longer defend yourself if other manufacturers bring an optically similar product onto the market. Basically, you always look for the conversation first.

In 2022, Paulaner was a defendant in another special dispute. The smaller brewery Riegele from Augsburg had argued with the Munich people about the rights on the name and tried in vain to get license fees for the name.