German trademark law: Black-and-white trademarks may not automatically offer protection against colored copies, German Federal Court of Justice rules
The German Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof, BGH) has handed down a decision which shines a light on a curious aspect of trademark law. In the case which was decided on 12 March 2015, German automaker BMW had sued a company which had produced and sold replica badges with the famous BMW sign, namely the blue-and-white propeller sign found on hoods of the Bavarian cars, marketed as spare parts (BGH, Urteil vom 12.03.2015, Aktenzeichen I ZR 153/14 – BMW-Emblem).
