Jagermeister competitor hits back at 'passing off' claims

Jagermeister launched its ‘Get Tough’ campaign in August to crack down on passing off after discovering that bars in the Midlands and northern England served substitute products in place of Jägermeister, when Jägermeister was asked for by name.
However, Josef Meier has hit back, claiming that whilst it does not condone passing off in any industry, it does still provide an on-trade alternative to its competitor, which it says “is totally legal and all down to the right to choose”.
Rob Preston, managing director of Josef Meier’s, said: “We are offering customers an alternative product, which we are proud of and we want to raise awareness of the brand, so apart from it being highly illegal, it’s not in our interest for our brand to be mis-sold.
“We have written to our customers to ensure they have the point of sale and signage to promote Josef Meier’s. We suggest that they use the term ‘Josef Bomb’ where Josef Meier’s is used to prevent any further miscommunication. Staff training and briefing sheets for on-trade customers will also be supplied.”
Josef Meier’s is also considering a further challenge to Jägermeister’s trademark for the term ‘J-Bomb’, on the grounds that it is too generic to be limited exclusively to Jägermeister.
Preston added: “In the world of drinks, a ‘bomb’ is a generic term used to describe the dropping of a shot of one drink into a glass of another drink.
“This is certainly not exclusive to Jägermeister and in our opinion trademarking the J-Bomb would only create further confusion for customers. We will be looking to for help from the trade to build a strong case.”