Sausage makers in Germany who sued claiming rivals had stolen their bangers’ identity were telling porkies, judges in Munich have ruled.
A collective of craft bratwurst makers in Nuremberg claimed a sausage maker in Bavaria had infringed their protected GI, or geographical indication, with a new range.
They told Munich Civil Court that the new smaller bangers were dead ringers for their own bratwurst, which are traditionally just 9 centimetres (3.5 inches) long.
Bavarian bratwurst, the court heard, are normally longer and this, argued the plaintiff’s lawyers, meant makers Osti Meier were passing off the new ones as Nurembergers.
They claimed the producer’s ‘Mini Rostbratwuerstchen’ infringed their GI protection which had been in place for 20 years.
A package photo showing the new sausages sizzling in a pan with bread and sauerkraut only made it worse, said the plaintiffs, because that is how their sausages are usually eaten.
But judges threw out the case, saying that the plaintiff’s GI had not been infringed.
Court spokesperson Anne-Kristin Fricke said: “An allusion to the protected name Nuernberger Rostbratwuerste or Nuernberger Bratwuerste, particularly due to the visibly small size of the bratwursts and the term used, mini-Rostbratwuerstchen, is out of the question.
“Their size and shape do not establish any reference to a specific geographical origin.”
The ruling is not final and can be appealed under German law.
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Story By: Joseph Golder, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Newsflash
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