How things are going on now
The judgment of the Federal Court of Justice ends the process between Shoe.com and Birkenstock. However, there are other ongoing copyright proceedings at the Hamburg OLG against Manufactum and at the LG Cologne against Penta. Other areas of law such as trademark law, competition law and design law are also used. These are not touched by the judgment. Konstantin Wegner, lawyer of Skw Schwarz, argues why Birkenstock will still be able to do opportunities despite the judgment: “As soon as the reason is given, the BGH will give us homework, which criteria for copyright protection must be met and presented. We will analyze this for the upcoming procedures and implement this in the next procedures. ” Birkenstock argues that objects of everyday life can also be protected by copyright. In Germany there was such a judgment, for example, for the original Porsche 356. In France (ballerinas) and Italy (moonboots), judgments would confirm that shoes can also fall underneath.
Birkenstock therefore wants to continue to protect the models at the European level and comes to the conclusion: “The standards are different in the individual European countries. We believe that a clarifying word of the European Court of Justice would make sense. If there is a slogan to be shattered, there is a lot to be said for it, ”says Wegner. The ECJ cannot be called by companies, but only by other courts. There are ongoing procedures in the EU in the Netherlands, Denmark and France. Outside the EU, among others in Switzerland.