The language learning software producer Rosetta Stone may no longer use the color. The highest German civil court justified this by saying that consumers might confuse the two brands. “Highly similar” are not only the yellows, but also the products (I ZR 228/12 Az .:).
Langenscheidt had to register yellow for his bilingual printed dictionaries 2010, the brand color. Because Rosetta Stone also used in the yellow internet site, in advertising and on packaging, the Munich publishing house was a violation of its trademark rights asserted and successfully sued the competitors at the Higher Regional Court of Cologne on omissions and damages. The appeal lodged revision of Rosetta Stone had the BGH now back.
A spokeswoman for Rosetta Stone from London expressed disappointment, but at the same time pointed to the still pending before the Supreme Court suit their company to extinguish Langenscheidts trademark registration of color Yellow. Whether the Federal Patent Court rejected this rightly, wants the Supreme Court in a hearing check on 23 October (document number C Eg 61/13).
The First Civil Senate did not wait for the outcome of that process, because it “no overwhelming probability” saw the words of the presiding judge Wolfgang Büscher, that the mark is deleted.
Langenscheidt assumes that “this case will be decided positively for the brand”. A spokeswoman welcomed the latest judgment – especially since the Supreme Court had confirmed the brand protection for dictionary-related products such as the language learning software. For Langenscheidt dictionaries are no longer only in print form out for the yellow was protected. The German language dictionary-leader has now also online courses, learning apps or audio CDs with books on.
Characteristic of the Langenscheidt Dictionaries are since 1956 the yellow color and the blue “L”. So other language learning products of the company since 1986 designed. Rosetta Stone offers in Germany since 2010 learning software for 33 languages - and advertises it in yellow with black lettering and a blue logo. This is according to Supreme Court “to trademark likelihood of confusion.”
While color in advertisements or on a product usually as a design tool and will only exceptionally be regarded as a trade. “On the domestic market of bilingual dictionaries but colors characterize the marking habits,” says the Supreme Court. Thus, there was yellow for Langenscheidt with a 60 percent market share in Germany, and green for the competition from the Klett-Verlag (20 percent market share)
By the way, not only fighting Langenscheidt around his “house color”. The German savings banks have been arguing for years about her red with the Spanish bank Santander. The Supreme Court ruling should not be applied to this dispute from the perspective of trademark law expert Andreas Schulz, because the claims of the savings banks went much further than the brand protection for yellow Langenscheidt. The judgment also does not affect “yellow Trademarks” other like the post office or the ADAC: “Dictionaries are no parcels and no automotive services,” said Markenrechtler Jens Matthes
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