Birkenstocks is comfortable and ubiquitous in summer. German shoes come in many colors and shapes. Sometimes they look elegant and sometimes look blurry. But can these sandals be considered art?
This on Thursday had to decide the Federal Court in Germany, and he ruled that only comfortable shoes were.
Birkenstock, based in Linz am Rhein in West Germany and says that his tradition of footwear in 1774 has launched a lawsuit against three competitors who sold sandals that were very similar to their own.
The shoe maker claimed that his sandals were “works protected by the author’s rights of applied art” that could not be easily imitated. According to German law, artwork enjoy more and more long -term protection of intellectual property than ordinary consumer products.
The company requested a ban on preventing its competitors to make a Copycat sandals and order them to recall and destroy those already on the market. The accused companies were not identified in court.
Functionality and craft art
Before the highest German court for civic trials executed this Thursday, the case was heard in two lower courts, which did not agree on the matter.
While the Cologne Regional Court initially recognized the models of shoes as works of applied arts and approved orders, the Senior Regional Court in Cologne later canceled the complaint orders, the German DPA news agency reported.
The appealing court said he was unable to establish any artistic achievement in wide sandals with his signature.
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On Thursday, the Federal Court for Justice appeared with a higher regional court in Cologne and rejected the case. In his judgment, he wrote that the product cannot be protected by copyright if “technical requirements, rules or other limitations determine the design”.
When it comes to Birkenstock Sandals, functionality and craft art – at least in the eyes of the law.
“For the protection of the copyright of the works of applied art – as far as all other types of work is concerned – the design level should not be too low,” the court wrote. “Purely technical creation by using formal design elements is not acceptable to protect copyrights. He preferred to protect copyright, a design level that reveals individuality must be achieved.”
