Apple made the German designer business Koziol cease to market a new egg cup under the name “eiPott”. This infringes Apple’s trademark “iPod”. The court of Hamburg assumes likelihood of confusion with the public. The trademark iPod and the sign eiPott are phonetically similar and are used for the same products. Apple has registered the trademark iPod also for “kitchenware and household products”.
According to European trademark law, in some cases a strong conceptual distinction between the sign and the trademark could undo the visual and phonetical similarities. This is however not the case. The word eiPott is a fictional and non-common word for an egg cup in German. It could easily be used to designate other products (i.e. electrical egg cooker, egg pan). Conceptually the trademark iPod and the sign eiPott do not differ enough to undo the visual and phonetical similarities.
The court also considers that Koziol latches on the reputation of the well known trademark iPod. This is detrimental to the distinctive character of this well known trademark (L’Oréal/Bellure). Koziol even uses an illustration of a half-eaten egg which clearly refers to the famous half-eaten apple of Apple. Although it might have been a funny idea to use the word eiPott for an egg cup, this does not outweigh the trademark rights of Apple. The likelihood of confusion between iPod and eiPott justifies an injunction.
The egg cups are now marketed under the name “Pott”. Read the decision here (in German on the website of Terhaag & Partner Rechtsanwälte ).
Eva den Ouden
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Apple made the German designer business Koziol cease to market a new egg cup under the name “eiPott”. This infringes Apple’s trademark “iPod”. The court of Hamburg assumes likelihood of confusion with the public. The trademark iPod and the sign eiPott are phonetically similar and are used for the same products. Apple has registered the trademark iPod also for “kitchenware and household products”.
According to European trademark law, in some cases a strong conceptual distinction between the sign and the trademark could undo the visual and phonetical similarities. This is however not the case. The word eiPott is a fictional and non-common word for an egg cup in German. It could easily be used to designate other products (i.e. electrical egg cooker, egg pan). Conceptually the trademark iPod and the sign eiPott do not differ enough to undo the visual and phonetical similarities.
The court also considers that Koziol latches on the reputation of the well known trademark iPod. This is detrimental to the distinctive character of this well known trademark (L’Oréal/Bellure). Koziol even uses an illustration of a half-eaten egg which clearly refers to the famous half-eaten apple of Apple. Although it might have been a funny idea to use the word eiPott for an egg cup, this does not outweigh the trademark rights of Apple. The likelihood of confusion between iPod and eiPott justifies an injunction.
The egg cups are now marketed under the name “Pott”. Read the decision here (in German on the website of Terhaag & Partner Rechtsanwälte ).
Eva den Ouden