Germany’s Berentzen Gruppe has confirmed it has appealed a court ruling on the design of its Mio Mio soft drinks brand, marking a new turn in the ongoing trademark dispute with Paulaner Brauerei.
In a statement to Just Drinks, Berentzen’s CEO Oliver Schwegmann said: “After careful internal review and consideration, we have decided to appeal the first-instance ruling of the Munich Regional Court of August 5, which was decided against us, in the present case.”
Paulaner Brauerei took legal action against local drinks manufacturer Berenzten at the start of this year over the design of the latter’s Mio Mio Cola + Orange Mix drink.
Confirming the news to Just Drinks at the time, Berentzen said Paulauner had taken legal action “for an alleged infringement of its colour trademark” used on the label of its Spezi soft drinks range.
It added that Paulaner argued Berentzen’s Mio Mio Cola + Orange Mix drink uses “a colour wave that is claimed to correspond to the colour combination of Paulaner Spezi and is therefore confusingly similar”.
On 5 August, the Munich Regional Court ruled against Berentzen.
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By GlobalDataIn a statement on LinkedIn yesterday (11 August), Berentzen’s Schwegmann said that the court’s decision did not convince the company.
In the separate statement to Just Drinks, Schwegmann added: “The design of our Mio Mio Cola + Orange Mix is based on an original, creative idea. We remain convinced that both the colour scheme and the bottle design of our product clearly distinguish it from the product of the Paulaner Brauerei. We are therefore confident about the next legal instance and optimistic that it will share our view.”
Paulaner told Just Drinks it had acknowledged Schwegmann’s LinkedIn post and was “interested in reaching in an “amicable solution”.
The group declined to comment further on the ongoing court proceedings.
It is not the first trademark issue Paulaner has faced regarding Spezi.
Three years ago, Brauhaus Riegele challenged Paulaner over the use of the “Spezi” name, claiming it had invented the drink.
In October 2023, the District Court of Munich ruled in favour of Paulaner, allowing it to continue using the name due to a 1974 agreement with Riegele.
