In March of this year, Bulgria's Administrative Court Sofia City (ACSC) reversed the Patent and Trade Mark Office (PTO) decision of May 2012 and ruled that Nova Trade Ltd, a Bulgarian producer of soft drinks, could mislead consumers by using the Pit Bull mark for its energy drink. The ACSC also took into consideration the well-known status of Red Bull marks as well as the similarity between the marks in question, ruling that the Austrian company's Bulgarian competitor was taking unfair advantage of the Red Bull trade marks and inflicting a detrimental effect upon their distinctive character.

In reversing the decision of the PTO to allow registration of Pit Bull for goods in Class 22, the ACSC held that the Pit Bull mark was registered in violation of Article 12 of the Bulgarian Law on Marks and Geographical Indications (LMGI), since that mark was similar to Red Bull’s earlier marks.

Both the Bulgarian PTO and Nova Trade have appealed the ACSC's decision to Bulgaria’s Supreme Administrative Court.

Source: note by Bogdan Bogdanov, published in the PETOSEVIC newsletter