Belgian far-right party cannot use IKEA trademarks for anti-immigration campaign, EU court advises
The court said the party’s Ikea-style campaign images could damage the retailer’s reputation and said freedom of expression did not outweigh trademark rights.
- On Tuesday, the European Court ruled that Belgian party Vlaams Belang was not entitled to use IKEA trademarks, finding the use may have caused "significant detriment" to the company's reputation.
- Vlaams Belang launched the "Ikea Plan" in 2022, a proposal targeting migration and asylum laws, using Ikea-style logos and imagery to present its anti-immigration agenda at a press conference.
- The ECJ ruled, "A proprietor of a trademark with a reputation may prevent that mark from being used by a political party where the latter has not demonstrated that its freedom of expression takes precedence." The court found the use lacked good faith or public interest justification.
- Inter IKEA, a Netherlands-based holding company managing the Swedish firm's intellectual property, argued it cannot accept trademark use harming its reputation; the company welcomed the court's judgment.
- Following the ECJ guidance, the Belgian court will issue the final decision on the matter; Vlaams Belang stated it "will thoroughly study its scope in the context of the further legal proceedings.
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72 Articles
In Trademark Fight With Far-Right Party, Ikea Scores
A Belgian campaign borowing Ikea's look has hit a legal wall in Europe. The EU's top court on Tuesday backed Ikea in its fight against Flemish far-right party Vlaams Belang, which 2022 "IKEA-Plan" immigration campaign mimicted the company's logo and instruction-manual figures. The Court of Justice of the European Union...
Vlaams Belang had copied the company's assembly instructions for a campaign against immigration: the European Court of Justice ruled that it could not
In 2022, the extreme right-wing party, Flemish Interest, submitted a plan to reduce immigration, calling it the acronym of a Swedish furniture company.
The dispute dates back to 2022, when Vlaams Belang presented proposals to radically tighten Belgian asylum and immigration policy under the title "IKEA-plan".
The CJEU has approved Ikea's initiation of proceedings against the Belgian right-wing party.
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