Whe can call his cola and orange mix Spezi? Two breweries have been arguing about this before the Munich I Regional Court since Monday. The value in dispute is around 10 million euros. It is undisputed that the traditional Augsburg brewery Riegele had the name “Spezi” secured as early as 1956 – initially they sold beer under this name, but soon the well-known lemonade ready mix, after the brewery observed that many innkeepers from individual bottles Mix cola and orange soda yourself. The sale of the ready mix was so successful that Riegele founded a beverage association in 1977 because the Augsburg brewery could no longer serve the market on its own.
Since then, other producers in the region have also been allowed to bottle Spezi, although Riegele charges a license fee for this. Until now, the Paulaner brewery has been a special case and has not had to pay a regular license fee. The reason: the Munich-based company had already reached an agreement with Riegele in 1974 – i.e. three years before the Spezi brand association was founded.
At that time, Paulaner paid a one-time payment of 10,000 German marks and promised to only sell their Spezi under the name “Paulaner Spezi” with a slightly different logo. The sum was “ridiculously” low, says Riegele senior boss Sebastian Priller in an interview with the FAZ. Riegele therefore terminated the old agreement in May 2021. Riegele wants to allow Paulaner to use the name in the future, but only if Paulaner concludes a new license agreement. Paulaner defends itself against this and insists on the old special rule.
The core issue is now the legal question of whether the agreement at the time was a license agreement that can be terminated (argues Riegele) or a one-time demarcation agreement (argues Paulaner). A verdict had not yet been made on Monday, but after the first day of negotiations, Paulaner is confident of victory: “We are pleased that the court followed our legal opinion,” said Paulaner in the afternoon. Now they want to find “an amicable solution” with Riegele. If that doesn’t work, the court wants to make a judgment on August 30th.
