We are pleased to inform that the Regional Court in Warsaw's XXII Intellectual Property Division, in a judgment dated June 18, 2024, dismissed in its entirety Audi A.G.'s lawsuit for alleged trade mark infringement related to the offering of non-original spare parts in the form of radiator covers (so-called "grills") with space for attaching the AUDI emblem.

The Court, who has earlier requested for preliminary ruling to the Court of Justice of European Union (case C-334/22), pointed out in the oral recitals of the ruling that, in light of the Court's guidelines, he was to examine, whether the use of the sign by marketing radiator covers (so-called “grills”) that are a spare part and contain a component designed to attach an emblem (with a shape identical or similar to the car manufacturer’s trade mark) is detrimental to the functions of the trade mark. In assessment of the Regional Court, under the circumstances of the examined case, none of the functions of the Audi trade mark have been infringed. Therefore, there can be no question as to whether the trade mark has been infringed.

The District Court's verdict is not final.

We would like to congratulate the entire team and in particular Prof. Ryszard Skubisz, as well as attorney at law Szymon Karpierz and attorney at law Tomasz Drab who represented the Defendant in the hereby case.

Also, we would like to thank our client for the trust and the opportunity to pursue an extremely interesting case, which is significant for the entire spare parts market.