Tayto NI off to court in trademark dispute

Tayto NI off to court in trademark dispute

The Northern Ireland Tayto Group (completely separate to the brand in the Irish ) is off to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) next month in a long standing trademark dispute.

The row stretches many years. In 2006 (OHIM) granted permission to German company MIP Metro to use the trademark 'Real' in the colour red for a wide range of products, from detergents to yoghurt. In August 2011, an application for revocation of the trademark assigned to MIP Metro was made by Tayto Group for non use. MIP Metro said however that the trademark was in use across over 300 stores that stock a range of 80,000 products.

Bad news for MIP Metro as  in 2013 OHIM revoked the trademark the trademark saying the evidence submitted for its use had been insufficient and that the registered trademark had not been used as registered.MIP Metro appealed stating that the contested trademark was valid.

It won, with the OHIM stating that MIP Metro "has proven that the contested mark was put to genuine use in the European Union for the relevant period in connection with the following goods in respect of which the mark is registered". Each party was ordered to pay its own costs.

But earlier this year, Tayto Group took its case to the European Court of Justice. It wants the court to overturn, in part, the appeal decision secured by MIP Metro and to make the OHIM pay costs. The hearing is set for next month in Luxembourg.