Italy: court decision could spell the end of “anomaly” over hide symbol
20/06/2013
UNIC first filed a trademark application for the hide outline, known in Italy as the vacchetta or ‘little cow’, in 1977. According to Mr Viscuso, an anomaly grew up in Italy in which UNIC “asked for and frequently obtained” the seizure of goods that it believed were using the symbol without its authorisation.
After one such incident, French shoe brand Chaussures Eram filed a lawsuit against UNIC. Mr Viscuso has now reported that the court in Milan found in favour of Eram and against UNIC because Eram argued successfully that the hide symbol had been in widespread use in many countries before 1977.
Eram told the court that a version of the symbol was being used in France and being recognised by French consumers as long ago as 1925. A similar symbol began to be used in the US in 1961, in the UK in 1968 and in Germany in 1973.
“The most important consequence is that the judgment rectified an Italian anomaly relating to the use of the ‘vacchetta’ device,” Mr Viscuso said. “Before the decision, the contested mark was freely used by the tanning community in other countries of the European Union. In Italy, however, Unic enjoyed a unique monopoly, and frequently asked for and obtained the seizure of goods based on its trademark rights. Such a situation created significant uncertainty.”
He explained that the court decision has not yet been made final and said that decisions on the use of the hide symbol with the words ‘vero cuoio’ and ‘vera pelle’, also subject to trademarks.
Mr Viscuso told leatherbiz he did not know the reason for the delay in finalising the original decision and for reaching decisions on the follow-up questions. But he said that in the past UNIC has charged a fee to “third parties” to use the symbol.
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