Major Success for CHANDON: Our Client Bodegas Chandon prevails against Lidl Lookalike at Munich Higher Regional Court

Lubberger Lehment secured a victory for Bodegas Chandon, S.A. – a company of the Moët Hennessy Group belonging to LVMH – before the Munich Higher Regional Court against Lidl Vertriebs-GmbH & Co. KG and the manufacturer AVG Vertriebsgesellschaft für Getränke mbH for unfair imitation of its Chandon Garden Spritz (Case No. 29 U 1488/23 e, judgment dated March 26, 2026, not yet final). The judgment also marks a significant success for the CHANDON Maison of Moët Hennessy, which has six wineries in Argentina, California, Brazil, Australia, China and India, spanning four continents.

Since March 2021, Bodegas Chandon has been marketing the “Chandon Garden Spritz,” a sparkling wine aperitif flavored with bitter orange, herbs, and spices, in a distinctive design: a dark sparkling wine bottle with gold foil, a golden-yellow vertical band wrapping around the entire bottle with embossed gold lettering, and an oval label featuring an image of an orange on a white-beige background. Starting in April 2022, Lidl offered an imitation under the name “Premium Spritz,” which adopted these distinctive design features in key respects.

The Munich Higher Regional Court overturned the Munich I Regional Court’s judgment dismissing the complaint and ruled that “Premium Spritz” constitutes an unlawful and derivative imitation and gives rise to avoidable confusion as to origin in the broader sense (Section 4(3)(a) of the German Unfair Competition Act (UWG)): Given the similarities and the common practice of brand manufacturers supplying discounters, the public would assume that the Lidl product is a lower-priced secondary line or a licensed product from Bodegas Chandon. The defendants were ordered to provide information and render account for their actions; their liability for damages was established on the merits. No further appeal was permitted.

The judgment on the merits had already been preceded by successful proceedings for a preliminary injunction: In its order of July 12, 2022 (Case No. 29 W 739/22) – following an initial rejection by the Regional Court – the 29th Civil Division prohibited the sale of “Premium Spritz” in the contested packaging.

The case was led by our Munich partner Dr. Benjamin Koch, who has been advising and representing the Moët Hennessy Group in the enforcement of its intellectual property rights for over 15 years.