Family dispute over luxury hotel Baur au Lac

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The location of the traditional Baur au Lac house could not be more exclusive. Just behind Bahnhofstrasse with views of the Alps and Lake Zurich. Still, what goes on behind the scenes of the luxury hotel is not very pleasant.

As the “Neue Zürcher Zeitung” reported, a name dispute arose over Baur au Lac. The owners of the five-star hotel and the operators of the restaurant and club Club Baur au Lac both hired lawyers and sued each other. Reason: The two sides argued over who owns the rights to the Club Baur au Lac brand of the Villa Rosau company. The lawsuit was filed in 2020, according to the Neue Zürcher Zeitung.

The two arms of the family are in conflict

The Zurich Commercial Court dismissed the lawsuit filed by the hotel owners. In this process, Villa Rosau AG came face to face with H. Kracht’s Erben AG firm, which aims to operate the hotel and related businesses according to the registration in the trade registry. According to the trade registry, its purpose is to operate the Club Baur au Lac restaurant and Club Diagonal in Villa Rosau.

Until 2006, H. Kracht’s Erben AG also operated Club Baur au Lac and the restaurant of the same name in Villa Rosau. Up to that point, the family assets and shares in the company each owned 50 percent of the two branches of the luxury hotel’s founding family. The family separated their joint assets, so part of the assets of H. Kracht’s Erben AG was split in 2006 and transferred to the newly formed Villa Rosau AG.

The rights to the Baur au Lac and Club Baur au Lac brands were not regulated at that time and the brands were not yet registered in the trademark register. Thereupon, the families’ lawyers met again in court.

Trademark can be registered

The Claimant claimed that there was a possibility of confusion regarding the Swiss brand Baur au Lac. There is also a violation of federal law against unfair competition. The Club Baur au Lac trademark must either be transferred to the plaintiff or deleted. Erben AG from H. Kracht complained that the parties never intended for the two brands to exist side by side.

However, the court did not pursue these claims. In its decision, the commercial court concluded that at the time of the split, the rights to the Club Baur au Lac brand were transferred to Villa Rosau AG. This is also authorized to register the mark in the registry. H. Kracht has no right to transfer or invalidate Erben AG’s trademark.

As an indication, the Court considers the undisputed transfer of the Internet domain name Club Baur au Lac to the defendant. The parties would have known that the Baur au Lac and Club Baur au Lac labels would continue to exist side by side and would therefore accept the risk of confusion during the split.

The Club Baur au Lac brand was registered in 2011 without the consent of Erben AG of H. Kracht. The Commercial Court ruled that this was not reported unfairly and unlawfully. The decision is not yet legally binding. (he)

Source :Blick