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Registration of the trademark "Oktoberfest" - What does it mean?

The city of Munich is now the owner of a number of trademarks related to the Munich Oktoberfest. In addition to the word and figurative mark "Oktoberfest", which was already registered in 2006 and shows a laughing face made of two beer mugs with the signature "Oktoberfest", the city of Munich also applied for registration of the word marks "Oktoberfest" as well as "Münchner Oktoberfest" and "Oktoberfest München" in 2021.

The city of Munich is not the only applicant seeking protection for the term "Oktoberfest". Various individual applicants have also applied for very similar trademarks. However, according to Clemens Baumgärtner (CSU), the city's economic advisor, only those who want to cash in on the name of the Munich Oktoberfest and harm it will have to fear legal disputes with the city: "For me, the big picture is important. If it is said that the Oktoberfest is now moving to Dubai, then that is encroaching. That is not acceptable, and we will take action against it. Furthermore, despite Corona's measures, the "small" Oktoberfests held in this country need not worry about being sued by the city of Munich.

However, anyone who wants to be sure and does not want to depend on the goodwill of the city administration should, for the time being, avoid using the term "Oktoberfest" for one of the many goods and services that the city of Munich has now placed under protection.

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