Bidfood is a global online wholesale distributor. Since 2018, they have been selling Asian food products under the private label AKARI. Bidfood did register its brand.
When in 2019, after eight years, Dung Young decided to finally register their brand, Bidfood successfully objected. The trademarks were deemed similar and applied for identical products. As a result, the AKAYA trademark application was rejected.
But that’s not all. Bidfood also demanded a ban on further use in court, and this request was granted. The argument of prior use in good-faith did not hold up. Trademark rights are obtained through registration, not through use.
Bidfood’s trademark registration was not considered to be in bad faith because it was developed by a sister company in Australia in 2016. When the brand proved successful in Australia, they decided to expand the activities into the European Union. The trademark is valid and a European ban on the use of the AKAYA brand follows. If you use a brand, make sure to register it! (Source image: Abcor)
