The dispute over the “Schützenlisl” seems finally settled. According to a spokesman, the Munich Higher Regional Court (OLG) has canceled a court case planned for this Thursday. The parties had previously announced that they had reached an out-of-court settlement at the end of March.
The legal dispute concerned the question of whether Wiesn host Lorenz Stiftl was still allowed to use the name and image of the beer girl dancing on a barrel.
At the end of February 2022, the Munich I Regional Court prohibited him from doing exactly this and upheld the lawsuit brought by the Traunsteiner Munich Kindl brewery, which claims the “Schützenlisl” for itself.
The court did not say anything about the content of the agreement. Münchner Kindl co-owner Dietrich Sailer said on request that the parties had agreed that Stiftl could continue to call his tent at the Oktoberfest “Schützenlisl”. In return, he is to forego the portrait of the beautiful Coletta Möritz, which the Munich painter Friedrich August von Kaulbach painted around 1880, so that the brewery can advertise with it.
In the first instance, the District Court of Munich I had upheld the brewery’s claim, which had demanded the complete deletion of Stiftl’s trademark rights. However, in a hearing, the Higher Regional Court let it be known that there were no legal objections to a “Schützenlisl” marquee.
Stiftl had the image and the name “Schützenlisl” registered with the German Patent and Trademark Office in 2015 for services in the catering sector. However, the regional court ruled in February that this trademark had expired and had to be deleted. The landlord didn’t use it for five years.
In 2017 and 2019, the restaurateur had tried unsuccessfully to get a “Schützenlisl” marquee at the Oktoberfest, which then failed in 2020 and 2021 due to the corona pandemic. It was not until 2022 that he got his Volkssänger tent “Schützenlisl”. In the hearing, the Higher Regional Court evaluated the corona pandemic in its favor, saying that it was not possible to operate a marquee during this time.
The Munich Kindl brewery registered the brand in 2016. She wants to use the famous portrait of the beer girl for her beer.