Pinsent Masons is successful with City of Munich landmark Oktoberfest appeal

20 May 2022 | 11:04 am | 1 min. read

Multinational law firm Pinsent Masons is advising the City of Munich in appeal proceedings brought by the organisers of a planned Oktoberfest event in Dubai. The organisers provided cease-and-desist undertakings, thereby in effect accepting a preliminary injunction issued in this landmark case by the District Court in favour of the City of Munich.

By providing full cease-and-desist undertakings in the course of an appeal hearing before the Higher Regional Court of Munich on 19 May 2022, the defendants accepted that they are prohibited from creating the impression that the annual Munich Oktoberfest was relocating to the Middle East. Any violation of the undertakings will trigger contractual penalties.

As part of the judgment the use of images that suggest relocation, has been prohibited, as does any corresponding reference to the Munich Oktoberfest in the promotion of the event in Dubai. The City of Munich successfully argued that the organisers unlawfully tried to exploit the reputation of the original Oktoberfest.

The team at Pinsent Masons advising on the case was led by Dr Nils Rauer and Florian Traub

Commenting on the case Dr. Nils Rauer said: "We are very pleased that the Higher Regional Court also shares our legal opinion and has ruled in favour of the City of Munich. Thus, it has now been finally confirmed that an imitation of the brand of the Munich Oktoberfest may not be used for one's own purposes."

"We’re proud of the role we have played on this crucial ruling advising the City of Munich and we’re pleased that we’ve been able to collaborate with the authority to reach a positive result for the City of Munich protecting Oktoberfest’s brand in Germany and beyond.”

Pinsent Masons was instructed to advise the City of Munich in 2021 to support the city as it challenged organisers of the Dubai event for their undue advertising and marketing conduct. The City of Munich successfully relied on the protection awarded by the German Law against Unfair Competition. The District Court had confirmed that the Oktoberfest enjoys individual character as the original beer festival organised in Munich, and that the targeted public could be deceived into believing that the original would relocate to Dubai. This provides the City of Munich with supplemental protection in addition to its rights from the EU trade mark for “Oktoberfest”.

Key Contacts

Latest press releases

Show me all press releases

Pinsent Masons appointed by HEINEKEN UK as its principal legal supplier

Multinational law firm Pinsent Masons has been named by HEINEKEN UK as its principal legal provider.

Pinsent Masons advises Clarios on Series B1 financing round of Altris

Multinational law firm Pinsent Masons advised Clarios on its investment in Altris as part of the Series B1 financing round.

Pinsent Masons continues expansion in Australia with two senior corporate appointments

Multinational law firm Pinsent Masons has continued its expansion in Australia with the appointment of partner James Stewart and special counsel Roger Hawkins to our corporate team.

People who viewed this press release also viewed

Show me all press releases

Pinsent Masons announces new leadership for Global IP Group and Life Sciences

Pinsent Masons has appointed Judith Krens (Partner, Amsterdam) and Tom Nener (Partner, Birmingham) as co-leads of the Global Intellectual Property (IP) team, and has appointed Charlotte Weekes (Partner, London) as Head of Life Sciences. The appointments come in light of the upcoming departure of Clare Tunstall, the current Head of IP and Life Sciences, who will be leaving the firm in the Autumn.

Pinsent Masons hires Maureen Daly to lead intellectual property team in Dublin

Multinational law firm Pinsent Masons has hired intellectual property and technology partner Maureen Daly to lead its IP team in Dublin and expand its pan-European Technology, Science and Industry sector capabilities.

Pinsent Masons appoints life sciences patent expert in its London office

Multinational law firm Pinsent Masons has hired European and UK life sciences partner Kristina Cornish into its London office.

For all media enquiries, including arranging an interview with one of our spokespeople, please contact the press office on

+44 (0)20 7418 8199 or 

Location contacts

We are processing your request. \n Thank you for your patience. An error occurred. This could be due to inactivity on the page - please try again.