Crucial Victory in Spain for Dutch Brewery Bavaria in Trademark Battle

LIESHOUT, The Netherlands - The Spanish Supreme Court has put an end to the trademark conflict between the Dutch brewery Bavaria and the Bayerischer Brauerbund. After 10 years of litigation Bavaria has finally won this battle. This victory in Spain follows on Bavaria’s recent victory in Australia.

The Bayerischer Brauerbund argued that the trademark “Bavaria” is in conflict with the geographical indication “Bayerisches Bier”. Furthermore, the trademark “Bavaria” could - in the view of the Bayerischer Brauerbund - cause confusion with respect to the geographical origin of the product.

The Supreme Court did not agree with the Bayerischer Brauerbund and Bavaria has won the cassation appeal on all grounds. First of all, the Supreme Court ruled that the protection for the geographical indication “Bayerisches Bier” does not extend to variations of that indication, such as “Bavaria”, all the more since that trademark clearly differs from the geographical indication “Bayerisches Bier”.

The Supreme Court concluded further that “Bavaria” is a name with a distinctive fantasy nature that does not in any way conflict with the protected geographical indication “Bayerisches Bier”.

There is also no ground to oppose the use of the trademark “Bavaria” because that prior trademark had been registered in good faith and is valid.

Finally, the Court is convinced that there is no risk of confusion with respect to the geographic origin of Bavaria beer.

The decision of the Supreme Court cannot be appealed anymore, which means the Spanish dispute between Bavaria and the Bayerischer Brauerbund has finally come to an end.

Peer Swinkels, boardmember of Bavaria, commented: “This conclusion is a great support to building our brand name in Europe. We can now concentrate on our business in Spain again. The Spanish Supreme Court clearly showed that a valid prior trademark, registered in good faith, can’t be deleted just like that. That would have been very dishonest.”

Bavaria N.V.

As an independent family brewery Bavaria holds a unique position on the international beer market. For seven generations, the company has been managed by the Swinkels family. Of the six million hectolitres of Bavaria beer produced annually, nearly 70% is destined for foreign markets. www.bavaria.com

Source: Bavaria N.V.

Information: Bavaria N.V., Eva vd Hout, +31(0)499-428503 / +31(0)653-34-39-83, eva.vandenhout at bavaria.nl