In a growing trend by political forums and parties, the Belgian far-right party Vlaams Belang recently found itself involved in a trade mark dispute with IKEA following the party publishing its immigration manifesto using the acronym ‘IKEA’, taken in Dutch to stand for ‘Immigratie Kan Echt Anders’, or ‘Immigration Really Can Be Different’ in English. Additionally, Vlaams Belang used several motifs that alluded to IKEA, including depictions of characters that replicate those shown in IKEA instruction manuals, and the colours used by IKEA in its branding.
When IKEA subsequently brought its claims against Vlaams Belang, the court in Brussels referred the case to the European Court of Justice (CJEU) for its view on whether the freedom to express political opinions and political parody constituted due cause for the use of another party’s trade mark. The CJEU initially sought to differentiate political parody from simple political fake advertising, and found that since Vlaams Belang had not actually engaged with IKEA, its products nor its practices, the party had instead used IKEA’s marks and likeness to further its own unrelated agendas. This use amounted to exploitation in the eyes of the CJEU, so as to allow the Brussels court to make a finding of trade mark infringement should it decide to do so upon deferral.
The second point for the CJEU to determine was whether Vlaams Belang’s members’ right to the freedom of expression outweighed the rights and interests conferred to IKEA. In making its assessment, the CJEU identified several key factors with each to be taken together in deciding, before issuing its guidance back to the Brussels court for a final decision.
With the case back with the Brussels court for determination, the court now has the guidance from the CJEU to come to its conclusions on the matter. Consequently, however the Brussels court concludes, such findings will thus bind the remainder of the courts in the EU should such an issue arise elsewhere, until the facts of any further matters cause a separate, distinguishable precedent. As developments arise in the Belgian claim, this will be of interest to many political parties seeking to benefit from the prowess of known commercial entities.
If you have any questions on the above, or if you need any advice or support in respect of your own intellectual property, please do not hesitate to contact the team at McDaniels Law on 0191 281 4000 or legal@mcdanielslaw.com.
