The Battle Over ‘Deluxe’: Lidl vs. Aldi in a Trademark Dispute

Who is entitled to use the ‘Deluxe’ trademark? 🤔🔖™️

That’s what has been the subject of a dispute between two big companies – Lidl Polska and Aldi Polska . 🏦💼

Lidl Stiftung & Co. KG applied for the registry of the ‘Deluxe’ trade mark in the EU in 2012, meanwhile getting into a dispute with Aldi, which was accused of trade mark infringement and unfair competition, and sought damages and injunctive relief. 📝👥™️

However, Lidl was unsuccessful in this dispute, as both the German Federal Court of Justice and OHIM held that ‘Deluxe’ is a descriptive and generic term for the goods identified in the application and is therefore devoid of distinctive character. ⚖️🚫