Hofmans can continue selling Balterio-laminate flooring. This was the judgment of the The Hague court last week. Spanolux, holder of the trademark BALTERIO, claimed in preliminary proceedings an injunction on trading the floors and demanded modifications on Hofmans’ website. According to Spanolux, Hofmans infringed its copyrights and trademarks. However, the court decided otherwise.
Spanolux produces floors, including laminate flooring with the BALTERIO-trademark. At the beginning of 2012 Spanolux introduced a selective distribution network in The Netherlands. Despite the fact that Hofmans was successfully selling Balterio-laminate flooring for over 4 years, at the end of 2011 it was informed that it was not allowed to enter into Spanolux’ selective distribution network. Hofmans did not give up and went looking for another way to get Balterio-laminate. It found a supplier in Germany and kept on selling the floors in its showroom and webshop.
The judge did not consider copyright infringement plausible, because Hofmans had replaced the photo’s of Balterio-laminate and now used its own footage. Also trademark infringement was not assumed by the judge. Hofmans mentioned the words “own import” with the footage. By doing so it made clear that Hofmans was not part of the dealer network. The relevant public would not assume there is a commercial connection between Hofmans and Spanolux. Therefore Hofmans’ argument of trademark rights being exhausted was followed by the judge. Consumers can still get their Balterio-laminate flooring at Hofmans.
In this case Hofmans is represented by Hoogenraad & Haak (Maarten Haak and Christine Fontaine, trademark lawyers)
|
office Emerald House Jozef Israëlskade 48-G Amsterdam, the Netherlands t +31 (0)20 - 305 3066 www.hoogenhaak.nl |
post PO Box 76780 1070 KB Amsterdam e info@hoogenhaak.nl f +31 (0)20 - 305 3069 chamber of commerce 34314579 |
Hofmans can continue selling Balterio-laminate flooring. This was the judgment of the The Hague court last week. Spanolux, holder of the trademark BALTERIO, claimed in preliminary proceedings an injunction on trading the floors and demanded modifications on Hofmans’ website. According to Spanolux, Hofmans infringed its copyrights and trademarks. However, the court decided otherwise.
Spanolux produces floors, including laminate flooring with the BALTERIO-trademark. At the beginning of 2012 Spanolux introduced a selective distribution network in The Netherlands. Despite the fact that Hofmans was successfully selling Balterio-laminate flooring for over 4 years, at the end of 2011 it was informed that it was not allowed to enter into Spanolux’ selective distribution network. Hofmans did not give up and went looking for another way to get Balterio-laminate. It found a supplier in Germany and kept on selling the floors in its showroom and webshop.
The judge did not consider copyright infringement plausible, because Hofmans had replaced the photo’s of Balterio-laminate and now used its own footage. Also trademark infringement was not assumed by the judge. Hofmans mentioned the words “own import” with the footage. By doing so it made clear that Hofmans was not part of the dealer network. The relevant public would not assume there is a commercial connection between Hofmans and Spanolux. Therefore Hofmans’ argument of trademark rights being exhausted was followed by the judge. Consumers can still get their Balterio-laminate flooring at Hofmans.
In this case Hofmans is represented by Hoogenraad & Haak (Maarten Haak and Christine Fontaine, trademark lawyers)