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The Austrian wine glass manufacturer Zalto is suing its German competitor Spiegelau for unauthorised copying. The champagne, universal, Bordeaux and Burgundy glasses in Spiegelau's "Definition" series (pictured right) are so similar to the corresponding models in Zalto's "Denk'Art" series (pictured left) that on 26 January in Frankfurt am Main, Bayerische Glaswerke was even awarded the negative "Plagiarius" prize for particularly brazen plagiarism and counterfeiting. It is the owner of Spiegelau.
"Being honoured with the negative award says nothing about whether a counterfeit product is permitted or illegal in the legal sense. The Plagiarius campaign cannot make judgements. But it can express the opinion that clumsy one-to-one imitations that deliberately look deceptively similar to the original product are reckless and morally reprehensible and lead to stagnation instead of progress and diversity," say the organisers of Aktion Plagiarius e.V. in Germany.
While the Zalto "Denk'Art" glasses are mouth-blown, the Spiegelau "Definition" glasses are machine-made. None of the companies have applied for design protection. Bayerische Glaswerke GmbH, which belongs to the Riedel Glas Group, has therefore referred to "freedom of imitation" in a statement and denied that there is any legal or moral wrongdoing here. According to the company, the 'Definition' series is modelled on two of its own older glass series.
(al / Source: Vinaria)