Tinkering allowed: In the dispute between two eggnog manufacturers, the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court has spoken a word of power. With its judgment today, the court sided with the spirits manufacturer Nordik from Lower Saxony. The spirits manufacturer Verpoorten from Bonn got nothing.
Verpoorten sued Nordik for their advertising. Nordik had advertised five eggnog bottles with the addition “Ei, Ei, Ei, Ei, Ei”. An advertising campaign ran at Christmas, the bottles were served as Christmas packages. A campaign ran at Easter, the eggnog came into the nest as an Easter egg substitute.
Verpoorten’s lawyers saw this as a “clear reference” and too close to the word mark “Eieiei” registered since 1979 and the famous slogan “Eieiei Verpoorten” (Ref.: I-20 U 41/22).
But the court saw it differently: Senate Chairman Erfried Schüttpelz found that an egg liqueur manufacturer could not be prohibited from referring to the egg as a raw material. That is not a trademark infringement.
