Luggage manufacturer RIMOWA won legal proceedings against the proprietor of the "Deseno" brand, thus laying down another landmark in defense of its distinguished feature of the brand -"groove design".
(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160607/376410 )
The IP Court in the judgement recognized the "groove design" owned by RIMOWA as a well-known symbol protected under the Fair Trade Act. The Court also found that the outer surface of the "Deseno" suitcase was strongly similar to the "groove design", which is believed to cause confusion amongst customers, or make the customers believe the "Deseno" suitcase has a connection with RIMOWA.
RIMOWA President & CEO Dieter Morszeck is very satisfied with the adjudication in Taiwan: "This judgement proves that consumers are aware of the brand character of the RIMOWA groove design."
It is a remarkable milestone for RIMOWA given the fact that in Taiwan the well-known status for a product design is only adjudicated for industrial design classics with a remarkable reputation in the public. The development of the first RIMOWA aluminum suitcase with the characteristic grooves goes back to 1950. RIMOWA will continue defending this most important feature of its brand identity against copycat and infringers.
In the beginning of 2016 RIMOWA has once again succeeded in defending its trademark rights. The suitcases produced by Vikland which infringed upon RIMOWA's patent for their wheel castors and luggage compartment division, among other things, and were immediately destroyed. The apparent similarities between the Vikland cases and the RIMOWA TOPAS aluminium case justified the suspicion of mispresentation of origin. Video evidence of their destruction can be seen on the official RIMOWA YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/RIMOWA1898.
RIMOWA GmbH
Bianca Becher
Richard-Byrd-Str. 13
50829 Cologne
Germany
E-Mail: bbecher@rimowa.de
Phone: +49-221-9564-170
Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160607/376410
Source: RIMOWA GmbH