In a ruling handed down on Thursday, the German Federal Court of Justice, the country's highest civil court, brought to a close a legal saga that began in May 2023.

At the time, the world-famous shoe manufacturer Birkenstock filed a complaint against German fashion retailers Tchibo and shoe.com, as well as Danish retailer Bestseller. Birkenstock accused them of selling models similar to its own and demanded that they be withdrawn from sale and destroyed.

After losing the case at the Cologne Court of Appeal in 2024, Birkenstock appealed to the German Federal Court. The court has sided with the appeal court, noting that "technical requirements, rules or other constraints determine the design" of Birkenstock sandals, according to the Belga news agency. "For copyright protection, on the other hand, it is necessary to achieve a level of creation that allows individuality to be recognised", explained the Federal Court in a statement. However, the creations of the company based near Bonn are "purely artisanal and use formal design elements".

"We want to ensure that copiers can no longer make money on the back of our brand", said company spokesman Jochen Gutzy. He pointed out that similar disputes are under way in France, the Netherlands, Denmark and Switzerland, and that a decision by the European Court of Justice is also expected.

Read the original French-language version of this news report /