+48 22 355 32 21

®
Lidl beats LVMH

Lidl beats LVMH

What do a French conglomerate known for its very exclusive products and a German discount retailer have in common? As it turns out, quite a lot. After a long legal battle, the Lidl chain won against the French giant LVMH, a leading producer of luxury goods. The dispute concerned the possibility of obtaining trademark protection for one of the elements of a champagne and lasted for over a decade.

Table of contents:

Color as a trademark

It all started when Veuve Clicquot, one of the brands within LVMH, wanted to register a European Union trademark. Interestingly, this isn’t about a regular logo or name, but about a shade of orange that this particular brand uses on the champagne it sells. The first attempts at registration took place as early as 1998.

Lidl's objection

From the very beginning, this idea did not appeal to the German retail chain Lidl, which decided not to give up and to fight for its rights to the end. The dispute began with an objection to the registration of a Community trademark, which was intended to be the light orange color visible on the label of the French champagne.

LVMH did not give up its efforts and consistently appealed all decisions unfavorable to it. Each time, it presented appropriate evidence to support its arguments regarding consumers’ recognition of the disputed color with specific Veuve Clicquot products and its decades-long presence on the market.

Unfortunately, this also did not bring any results, and the decision of the EUIPO and the Board of Appeal was unfavorable.

The case goes to court

The LVMH group did not give up and filed a complaint with the Court of the European Union.

In examining the case, the Court did not agree to the reservation of the orange shade, as European consumers do not strongly associate this color with one of LVMH’s brands, so the Veuve Clicquot manufacturer could not obtain exclusive rights to it. Furthermore, the Court did not agree with the appellant’s argument regarding the recognizability of the brand by European customers. Doubts were primarily raised about the strength of the image of champagne and the orange labels of Veuve Clicquot in countries such as Greece and Portugal.

After examining this issue, it was found that consumers in these countries do not associate the color orange with French champagne, which would be a strong argument in favor of registration. As a result, the French group lacks sufficient arguments to justify and allow the registration of the color as a trademark.

Ultimately, the Court of the European Union dismissed the complaint.

Table of contents:

“Consumers in these countries do not associate the color orange with French champagne.”

Start character scan now

Fill out the form and we will get back to you within the next … with a preliminary quote.

    Jaki znak mamy zbadać?


    Wybierz „znak słowny”, jeżeli chcesz zbadać oznaczenie słowne, i wpisz je w okienku poniżej. Możesz podać tylko jedno oznaczenie.
    Wybierz „znak graficzny lub słowno-graficzny”, jeżeli Twój znak ma określoną postać graficzną. W okienku poniżej wpisz elementy słowne, jeżeli takie pojawiają się na grafice, i dodaj plik zawierający grafikę znaku. Możesz przesłać tylko jeden plik o maksymalnym rozmiarze 1mb.

    Podaj szczegółowo, dla jakich towarów lub usług będzie używany Twój znak. W okienku poniżej wyszukaj odpowiedni termin, a następnie kliknij na niego, by dodać towar lub usługę do listy. Możesz dodać jednocześnie wiele towarów lub usług. Przed przejściem do następnego kroku upewnij się, że na liście znajdują się wszystkie towary lub usługi – później nie będzie można jej zmodyfikować!

    jakich produktów lub usług dotyczy rejestracja