Hero wins trademark dispute against Heera

The former "Lenzburg canning factory" is now a global corporation. The Hero Group employs around 4000 people in 19 countries - from Europe and the USA to Africa and Central Asia. Around 160 of them work for Hero Switzerland, and the head office is still located in Lenzburg in the canton of Aargau.

Hero keeps a correspondingly close eye on the international competition - so that it can intervene if its own brand appears to be under threat.

This is what happened when the British trademark Heera was registered in Switzerland. How the Switzerland at the weekend Hero then contacted the Institute for Intellectual Property. This confirmed a likelihood of confusion. Reasoning: Consumers are expected to pay little attention to everyday products. They reach for the shelf and don't look closely - which makes it easier to confuse brands and products.

Heera did not agree with the Institute's statement and the case was referred to the Federal Administrative Court. The English importer of Asian foodstuffs argued that the pictorial elements and meaning were clearly different. In addition, the company was targeting an Indian, Sri Lankan, Bangladeshi and Pakistani audience in Switzerland, who would be able to distinguish between the brands.

The court subsequently examined the two marks in detail, analyzed the fonts and compared the pronunciations in different national languages. Conclusion: The two marks are confusingly similar.

The Heera eagle and the "Quality Product" claim were given little weight - too unspecific, too frequently used. In contrast, the name Heera had a powerful memorable effect and was therefore central to the assessment.

According to the ruling, however, there is no risk of confusion in the seed sector. Heera is allowed to enter its name in the register. As Hero lost on this one point, the Lenzburg-based company must pay a tenth of the costs of the proceedings. However, the 450 francs should be bearable for the company.