Hard bandages on Black Friday
Our weekly sampler briefing for t3n pros today is about a successful model, the legal dispute about it and a comparatively elegant and secure solution for brands.
Black Friday has been a kind of shopping holiday in the United States for many years. But the special day at the end of November is also enjoying increasing popularity with buyers in Germany – and of course with retailers too. Accordingly, Black Friday will be fought hard. Not only on the discount front, but also with the brand itself.
For example, the dispute over trademark rights for Black Friday has preoccupied various courts in Germany for several years. A supposedly resourceful entrepreneur came up with the term “Black Friday” Register as a trademark with the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA) in 2013. The rights of use were transferred to an Austrian GmbH via various detours via Hong Kong. From there, warning letters were sent out to dealers who used the term but did not want to get a sub-license or an advertising package in Austria.
The result was uncertainty among brands and retailers as well as a lot of anger among entrepreneurs like Simon Gall from Oberhausen. Reason: Gall was already at the start with blackfriday.de before the Austrian Black Friday GmbH entered the business.
As a result, the word mark, which in the opinion of many experts should not have been registered at all, has been occupying various courts since then. Now the Federal Court of Justice has cheered Gall and his fellow plaintiffs. According to Gall, the Federal Court of Justice has fully confirmed the decision of the Federal Patent Court, according to which the word mark “Black Friday” is to be deleted for the essential services in the “advertising” area. The decision of the Federal Patent Court is thus final and the trademark will be deleted from the register of the German Patent and Trademark Office for the services in question. From Gall’s point of view, this is not just for his company and blackfriday.de well, but also one “great message for the advertising and affiliate industry ”.
Does this finally mean the end of the legal dispute over the brand? Nope. Finally, there are other goods and services. The Berlin Regional Court is currently dealing with lawsuits in this regard, also in the second round. The uncertainty among companies has therefore not yet been dispelled.
If you want to be on the safe side, you can use a trick and change the term into a legally secure form until it is finally clarified.
