Munich (dpa / lby) - millions of small beer bottles do not have to be destroyed because they are too similar to the protected form of a competing manufacturer. In a judgment, the Munich I Regional Court confirmed the protection of the "small euro bottle" design, as announced on Wednesday when asked. At the same time, it dismissed the lawsuit brought by bottle manufacturer Systempack Manufaktur against Verallia Germany for a similar product.
The rights to the design of the small euro bottle belong to the Giesinger brewery in Munich. Systempack Manufaktur manufactures and sells the 0.33 liter bottles under license. Because the company saw too great a similarity and risk of confusion with a bottle from its competitor Verallia, it sued the latter - among other things for injunctive relief and surrender of the bottles, millions of which are in circulation.
However, the court denied that there was a risk of confusion - also because the empty bottles were not sold to private individuals but to experts. As a result, Verallia is allowed to continue to market its product.
The slightly stockier beer bottles with a capacity of 0.5 liters that are widespread in Bavaria are called euro bottles. The small Euro bottle and Verallia product are similar to this shape but smaller.
