Apple brand licensee Pink Lady America has experienced a set-back in its trademark dispute with other fruit organisations after the EU General Court annulled a decision that had earlier gone in the company’s favour. The General Court delivered its decision on October 15th.
In 2013, Pink Lady America applied to register ‘Wild Pink’ as a trademark in classes 29, 30, and 31 for vegetables, fruit flavourings, and fresh fruit. Apple and Pear Australia, an industry body representing Australia’s apple and pear growers, and Star Fruits Diffusion, an organisation that manages the licences and brands of fruit companies including the Pink Lady brand, opposed the application.
They relied on earlier-registered Benelux, German, UK, French, and EU ‘Pink Lady’ word and figurative marks in the opposition. In 2014, the Opposition Division rejected the opposition, and the Fourth Board of Appeal affirmed the ruling in 2017.
