Bulgarian Meat Producer Fined for Unfair Competition

Bulgaria’s Commission for Unfair Competition has recently fined a meat producer Mekom JSC with EUR 169,012 (USD 231,000) for producing and selling a flat sausage KARLOSKA Krepost, similar to KARLOVSKA Lukanka, a protected designation of origin registered by the Bulgarian Patent Office (BPO) for flat sausage (lukanka) from the town of Karlovo in central Bulgaria.

Mekom JSC, based in the town of Silistra in northeastern Bulgaria, has been found to infringe the intellectual property rights of KARLOVSKA Lukanka (right), produced by the Meat Plant Karlovo, subsidiary of Sofia-based BONI Holding, a leading Bulgarian meat processing company.

The Commission has ruled that there is substantial similarity between the appearance of the two products and their brand names KARLOVSKA and KARLOSKA, both written in capital letters, in order to fine Mekom JSC for unfair competition.

For more information, please contact Milena Bogoslovova at our Bulgaria office.

Source: Bulgaria’s Commission for Unfair Competition