With a judgment announced on July 4, 2025, the 6th Civil Senate of the Higher Regional Court of Cologne (OLG Cologne), among other things, decided that a dog collar that is not made of leather may not be advertised by the name apple leather. An association of companies in leather-generating industry has applied for an injunction against an online shop that sells dog accessories. Among them were the collars marked with the designation apple leather. The material used is artificially produced with the addition of pomace and shell residues of the fruit juice industry.
After the Cologne Regional Court rejected the application, the OLG Cologne agreed to the Association. The OLG argues: “In the designation of the apple leather there is a risk of misleading consumers. Traffic means a natural product, which is produced by tanks animal skin and skins. The preceding” apple “is not clear that it is an artificially produced product. Under the designation” olive leather “or” Rhadarber leather “, vegetable leather is offered. Well -known shoe manufacturers offered products made of leather, which was made by an apple shell and native tannins.
