The lawsuit for Whisky Glen Beech Brook from Swabia goes into anor round: European Court of Justice (ECJ) referred case back to District Court of Hamburg. The decisive question in dispute is wher "average consumer directly think of Scotch whisky when he reads Glen", court said. An organization of Scottish whisky industry – The Scotch Whisky Association (SdWA) – had sued against a distillery from Baden-Württemberg that has been using Gaelic word glen for a few years for ir Swabian whisky.
"Glen" means narrow valley and is used by many Scottish whisky manufacturers in name. In case of Baden-Württemberg manufacturer, Scottish whisky industry sees an improper indirect use of protected Geographical indication Scotch whisky or at least an inadmissible allusion to it. In her opinion, word glen evokes associations with Scotland and its national beverage.
With word Glen, Swabian manufacturer refers to Beech Brook, which runs through municipality of Berglen. The manufacturer has its seat re. The distillery sells whisky since 2013. The dispute with SWA is already almost as long.
The Scots suit was first raised before Hamburg District Court. The court n asked ECJ to clarify extent to which protection of geographical indications such as Scotch whisky is concerned. In February, an EU reviewer of court did not want to determine: in Hamburg It should be examined wher European average consumer Glen immediately associate with Scotch whisky.
Date Of Update: 08 June 2018, 12:02
