The egg is a word that can be used flexibly. It describes the protein enclosed by the shell and the yolk, which can be eaten either boiled or stirred. You can “have balls” or at least urgently need them, at least that’s what Oliver Kahn once thought. Small children “make an egg” in the petting zoo, but this term also works wonderfully as a saying: Have you forgotten your aunt’s birthday again? Awww!
The question of who may use this word in which context was the subject of a hearing at the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court on Wednesday. The lawsuit focused on a product made from alcohol, sugar and, of course, egg: eggnog. The Bonn spirits manufacturer Verpoorten, better known with the prefix “Eieiei”, had sued. The manufacturer of the yellow drink has been advertising with this slogan for decades. With a cheerful “Egg, egg, egg, egg, egg” the spirits manufacturer Nordik from Horneburg in Lower Saxony had now advertised five egg liqueur bottles for five different flavors. Whoa, that’s what people at Verpoorten in Bonn thought and sensed a trademark infringement.
Anyone who is surprised that there is a dispute about eggnog at all, this supposedly antiquated little drop that tastes of the old Federal Republic and goes with 1970s wallpaper and Mettigel, has missed the latest mini hype about it. The eggnog is something again: In northern Germany in particular, younger people have seen it as trendy again for a few years – made with organic eggs, of course, and sometimes sealed with a wooden closure.
“Eieiei” expresses astonishment – but “Ei, Ei, Ei, Ei, Ei”?
The eggnog from Nordik is also quite hip in a narrow bottle. Only the advertising was a problem, at least for the competitor. The court in Düsseldorf has now ruled that the eggnog contains egg. It is not a trademark infringement to point out this fact. In addition, the judge argued, “Eieiei”, the Verpoorten slogan, is commonly known as an expression of surprise. This is not the case with the fivefold list of the North German competitor, separated by commas: A clear difference, the court judged. Curious, however: On his website, Verpoorten himself writes “Ei, ei, ei” instead of “Eieiei”.
Despite the judgment from Düsseldorf, the slogan “Eieiei Verpoorten” has been and remains protected as a word mark since 1979. A privilege that is denied to Nordik: the company had previously failed to have its fivefold egg protected as its own brand. The reason for this was similar to the reasoning of the Düsseldorf court: the mere reference to what is probably the most basic ingredient in eggnog is not eligible for protection. The astonishment “Eieiei”, on the other hand, does.
The words of the young Hape Kerkeling in the filmed autobiography “The boy has to go to the fresh air” should therefore be recommended to the possibly disappointed managers and lawyers of Verpoorten: “I’d like to have another eggnog”, whistles the little Hape there, disguised as an elderly lady in a leopard costume. Because: “Life has to go on somehow!”