German confectioner Paul Reber has lost a European Court of Justice (ECJ) bid to secure EU trademark rights for the term ‘Mozart’ for selling chocolate-coated marzipan and praline balls.
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The products are generally known in Germany and Austria as ‘Mozartkugel’ and Swiss confectioner Lindt & Sprüngli successfully argued the proposed trademark was generic and not eligible for legal protection.
If Reber had won, it could have prevented other companies from using ‘Mozart’ on packaging for these sweets.
Judges at the ECJ’s Court of First Instance referred to a poll of German consumers where 73.4% associated ‘Mozart’ with “a praline in the form of a ball, the Mozartkugel”; while only 18.2% linked ‘Mozart’ with a particular recipe.
“The obvious conclusion is…that term is descriptive,” ruled the court.
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By GlobalData
