Belgian brewer beats gambling brand at General Court
International gambling brand Novomatic has failed to register ‘Primus’ as an EU trademark, after an opposition from a Belgian brewery.
The EU General Court ruled yesterday, September 10, that beer maker Brouwerij Haacht had established a reputation for its pre-existing ‘Primus’ trademark in Belgium.
The Belgian company sells the ‘Primus’ brand of lagers and pilsners, and owns EU and Benelux trademarks for the term covering beer and lemonade.
Novomatic filed to register ‘Primus’ as an EU mark covering a variety of casino-related goods and services in 2018, but was initially unsuccessful.
The gambling company appealed the European Union Intellectual Property Office’s (EUIPO) refusal of the mark at the General Court.
On appeal, Novomatic challenged the strength of the evidence submitted by Brouwerij Haacht to the EUIPO for the reputation of its ‘Primus’ mark in Belgium.
According to Novomatic, the EUIPO relied on “relied on presumptions and probabilities” in determining that the Belgian brewer’s earlier mark had an established reputation.
But the General Court disagreed, citing a “large volume” of sales invoices and images of the ‘Primus’ mark on display on the facades of pubs in Belgium.
The General Court judges also referred to “examples of sponsorship of cycling races and advertising operations” as “objective evidence” of the earlier ‘Primus’ mark’s reputation.
The court also held that there was a risk the relevant public would associate the two marks, even though they covered different products.
Novomatic argued that it had “due cause” to use the ‘Primus’ mark since it has a “laudatory character” which denotes a premium product, but the General Court said the gambling company had failed to provide any evidence for this assertion.
The court ordered Novomatic to pay costs for its unsuccessful appeal.
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