In proceedings between Birkenstock and retail chain Scapino, Birkenstock claimed copyright protection for its ‘Madrid’, ‘Arizona’, ‘Florida’, ‘Boston’ and ‘Gizeh’ models. It was mostly successful. According to the District Court Midden Nederland, the ‘Madrid’, ‘Arizona’ and ‘Florida’ sandals are indeed eligible for copyright protection. Scapino infringes the copyright on these models with its sandals from its own brands ‘Bioslippers’, ‘Bio Life’, ‘Hush Puppies’ and ‘Thuis’.
The Dutch court reached a different concludion to the German Federal Court of Justice
The Bundesgerichtshhof issued a judgment on 20 February 2025 (ECLI:DE:BGH:2025:200225UIZR16.24.0) in which this court ruled that two Birkenstock models (the โMadridโ and โArizonaโ) are not eligible for copyright protection.
Will the Dutch or German court’s ruling be in lin ewith CJEU’s upcoming ruling in the Mio/Haller case?
The CJEU is expected to rule in the Joined Cases Mio (C-580/23) and USM Haller (C-795/23) about copyright protection of product design on 4 December 2025. Will the ruling of the Dutch or German court be in line with the CJEU? To be continued.
Read my case report about the Dutch Birkenstock ruling for the Class99 blog of MARQUES here.
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