Black-Friday.de announced in a press release that it had filed a cancellation suit against the Black Friday trademark with the Berlin Regional Court.
You can find more information in the press release .[/su_box] For several years, online retailers on various marketplaces, especially Amazon, have been using the term "Black Friday" for sales promotions.
This is not a stock market crash (that was "Black Thursday" in 1929 and "Black Monday" in 1987) , but the Friday after Thanksgiving in the USA.
It heralds the "official" start of the Christmas shopping season. After Halloween has already found its way into Germany in recent years, many online shop operators in this country are now using the aforementioned Friday and its name to attract customers and interested parties with special offers.
But be careful: Since 2013, the term "Black Friday" has been protected in Germany as a word mark for numerous product groups ( info here ).
At that time, registration was apparently still possible because the term was hardly known in this country until then.
Since 2018, the term has also been protected by a Swedish owner, but only for alcoholic beverages ( info here ).
In Germany, the registration of the far-reaching rcs data vietnam trademark, which has existed since 2013, is currently being contested, but no final judgment has yet been made.
In parallel, there are also several international registrations of the "Black Friday" trademark for numerous product classes that have existed since 2010 and whose owner is based in Mexico ( info here ).
If you don't want to risk a warning, you should refrain from using the term "Black Friday" until the issue has been resolved, or you should consult a lawyer to design your sales campaigns in such a way that the existing trademark registrations are not affected - which would be quite complicated and would involve profound restrictions.
Do you run an online shop and still want to use the term "Black Friday"? What could an alternative look like? Simply give the Friday in question a name of its own, even a funny one.
This will set you apart from the crowd, show that you have a sense of humor and at the same time sharpen your profile.
Of course, you should check beforehand whether this name is still available or whether someone has already had it protected.