American jeans icon Levi Strauss managed to strike a severe blow to German fashion retailer New Yorker in a trademark dispute closely watched by the German public. According to various media reports, the Hamburg Appeal Court confirmed the findings of the lower Hamburg District Court according to which distribution of certain jeans models would infringe the Levi Strauss trademark rights in the stitching pattern on the back pockets of the Levi's jeans. Levi Strauss is the registered holder of, inter alia, Community trademark No. 2285443 shown below:

New Yorker is reported to have sold different variants of jeans showing, inter alia, stitching pattern as reproduced below:

The Hamburg Appeal Court confirmed, on September 18, 2014 — Case No. 3 U 96/12 —, the findings of the lower instance, including New Yorker's liability to pay compensation and render corresponding information on sales. Interestingly, Levi Strauss requested a flat fee of EUR 50.00 per jeans while New Yorker is reported to sell their own jeans for prices below Euro 50.00.

As the Hamburg Appeal Court did not allow New Yorker to appeal to the Federal Supreme Court, according to the press, chances appear below average that New Yorker will turn the game.

The written grounds of the appeal court decision are not yet available.