Statement from ESA on SUZUKI™ Trademark in Germany

By ESA Administrator

18th June 2018

SUZUKI TRADEMARK IN GERMANY

The following statement is currently on the website of the Deutsche Suzuki Gesellschaft e.V.  (DSG) 

 “In Germany the name Suzuki in the music education sector is no longer protected by trademark law and may be freely used by ANYONE. This was decided by the Federal Patent Court on 2nd July 2013. Contrary reports are invalidated by this supreme court decision, which can no longer be challenged.” (source: https://www.germansuzuki.de/?page_id=2107)

The European Suzuki Association's (ESA) position is still that, based on the trademark registered by the International Suzuki Association (ISA) in Germany and the European Union, the ISA is the owner of this trademark and only organisations and individuals affiliated to the ISA can be granted the use of the name “SUZUKI”.

Since the DSG has not been an affiliate member of the ESA since 2012, the use of the name SUZUKI for their activities (teacher training and alike) and as a description of their legal entities supposedly is a trademark infringement.

SUZUKI™ Method in Germany

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