(Adnkronos) – The German far-right party, Alternative for Germany (AfD), has lost its European trademark rights over the party’s logo and acronyms. This is according to a resolution from the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), the EU body that manages trademark, design, and model applications.
The AfD has announced that it will exercise its right to appeal the ruling: the loss of trademark rights makes it difficult for the movement to prohibit others from using the logo or acronym for commercial purposes, such as on t-shirts or promotional items containing political messages.
“The AfD will appeal the EUIPO decisions and we are confident they will be overturned,” the party office said in response to a Dpa request. In September 2023, a Berlin law firm filed a request for revocation of trademark rights with the EU office based in Alicante, eastern Spain, thus initiating a cancellation procedure.
The lawyers argued that the trademark had not been significantly used for an uninterrupted period of five years. EUIPO upheld the request after more than two years. According to the authority’s resolution, the documents submitted by the AfD only demonstrated internal party use, but not commercial activity as a trademark.
The AfD also confirmed that cancellation proceedings are underway against seven of its trademarks at the German Patent and Trademark Office (DPMA) in Munich, which are unlikely to be resolved before next year. “Regardless of the outcome of these proceedings, the name, the abbreviation ‘AfD’ and also the AfD logo are widely protected by numerous other trademarks, as well as by the right to the name,” the far-right party stated.
