Name, brand and colors, court saves Aeroitalia: "It did not copy Alitalia's"

The Court of Rome has Rejected Ita Airways' request for a stay moved by Ita Airways against Aeroitalia regarding the Supposed plagiarism of the brand that the flag carrier would suffer from the latter.

Last October, the Italian Patent Society, which protects ITA Airways' intellectual property, had disputed that Aeroitalia's branding (name, colors, and livery design) is too similar to Alitalia's, which ITA Airways had purchased in 2021 for 90 million euros. without, moreover, ever using it.

However, the judge of the Enterprise Section of the Court of Rome dismissed the objections made to Aeroitalia by the party experts according to which the new company's logo would stand "in contrast to Ita's prior rights not only because of the obvious phonetic and/or graphic and/or conceptual similarities, but also because of the use of them on the liveries and rudders of the planes, which clearly recall those of Alitalia aircraft."

In the dispute Aeroitalia was being enjoined to stop using that name and livery, which in fact would in all likelihood have resulted in. the end of the company founded in 2021 and led by CEO Gaetano Intrieri.

However, the court has Rejected the suggestion that the two names may confuse the consumer, since in one the emphasis is on the word 'wing' and in the other on the concept of 'air'.

As for the colors, "beyond the use of red and green, both of which refer to the professed 'Italian-ness' of the company," the ruling reads. appear different in terms of font, stylistic approach".

As for the logos, the brand of Alitalia "recalls the idea of an airplane aileron., while The second has a more pronounced reference to the letter 'A'".

Finally, the judge pointed out. the historical context: "The events surrounding Alitalia are known to the general public and even more so to that sector consisting of the air carrier's users." For this "it is highly doubtful that there are any users who might book with Aeroitalia in the belief that they are using Alitalia's services"

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