The 'PriSecco' brand is invalid, too similar to the world-famous Prosecco
Manufaktur Jorg Geiger GmbH's appeal, registered in 2015 for non-alcoholic fruit juice, dismissed
Key points
For the General Court of the European Union, the trademark "PriSecco", registered in 2015, for afruit-flavoured non-alcoholic drink is null and void, because the evocation of the Italian "Prosecco" Doc is too obvious.
The judges of first instance in Luxembourg thus dismissed the appeal by Manufaktur Jorg Geiger GmbH, confirming a nullity already declared by the Board of Appeal of the European Union Office for Intellectual Property (Euipo).
The trade mark 'PriSecco' had been registered by Manufaktur Jorg Geiger GmbH for a fruit juice drink. In 2020, the Consortium for the Protection of the Prosecco Doc had challenged its registration on the grounds of the obvious evocation of the Denomination. In 2022, the Euipo had declared the nullity of the trade mark, recognising that 'the Prosecco has become the most renowned sparkling wine in the European Union, together with Champagne'.
The judicial affair
The German company then appealed the decision to the Board of Appeal, which upheld the ruling in 2024. The latest appeal, filed before the General Court of the European Union (Case T-406/24), was again rejected.
The General Court held that the application of the criteria for establishing evocation was correct, observing that the strong visual and phonetic similarity between "PriSecco" and "Prosecco" and the almost complete inclusion of the protected term justified the infringement. The pre-existence of the mark in Germany, noted by the company, was considered irrelevant, also in view of the different registration times, 2009 for "Prosecco" and 2015 for "PriSecco". The EU General Court then emphasised the worldwide diffusion of the name "Prosecco", famous bubbles at any latitude, deserving full protection.
