Eierlikör dispute: Verpoorten loses against Nordik

Source of image Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/verpoorten.original/

Egg liqueur manufacturer Verpoorten has suffered a defeat in court against competitor Nordik in their dispute. The Bonn-based liqueur producer had sued Nordik because the competitor used the words “Ei, Ei, Ei, Ei, Ei” in their advertising, which Verpoorten considered a violation of their trademark “EiEiEi Verpoorten.”

The Düsseldorf Regional Court had already ruled against Verpoorten in the first instance, allowing Nordik to use the words. Now, the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court has also dismissed Verpoorten’s appeal.

What is it about?

In 1978, Verpoorten had the advertising slogan “EiEiEi Verpoorten” protected as a word mark. Since then, the company has used the slogan in its advertising and has invested a lot of money in its dissemination. Verpoorten saw the use of the words “Ei, Ei, Ei, Ei, Ei” by Nordik as a clear reference to its protected slogan and a violation of its trademark rights.

The court’s decision

The Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf saw it differently and rejected Verpoorten’s appeal. The use of the words “Ei, Ei, Ei, Ei, Ei” in Nordik’s advertising does not violate the plaintiff’s trademark “EiEiEi Verpoorten,” according to the court.

The words strung together with commas are merely an indication that the liqueur contains eggs as a “core ingredient.” The repetition of the word “Ei” five times does not lead to a decisive change in this understanding of the product, but is only perceived as a further reinforcement of the attention effect or as an emphatic expression of surprise.

The court also found that the overall appearance of Nordik’s online advertising shows that the word sequence “Ei, Ei, Ei, Ei, Ei” is a mere ingredient note.

What’s next?

The court did not allow for an appeal, but Verpoorten can lodge a complaint with the Federal Court of Justice (BHG). Therefore, the verdict is not yet legally binding.

Conclusion

The egg liqueur dispute between Verpoorten and Nordik shows how important it is to protect one’s trademark rights. Companies must think early about protecting their brands and act quickly in case of violations of their trademark rights. In this case, however, the court decided that the use of the words “Ei, Ei, Ei, Ei, Ei” in Nordik’s advertising did not constitute a violation of the trademark “EiEiEi Verporten.”