Recht·IE Forum·24 feb

BIRKENSTOCK v. SCAPINO: Dutch court recognizes copyright in iconic sandals

The German company Birkenstock is widely known to the public for its sandals and has frequently been involved in litigation to protect its designs. On 12 November 2025, the District Court of Midden-Nederland (the Netherlands) held that Dutch shoe store chain Scapino infringed Birkenstock’s copyright in three well-known sandal models (ECLI:NL:RBMNE:2025:5837). The judgment was rendered shortly before the Mio/Konektra ruling of the CJEU, but probably would have turned out the same way if it had been rendered after – at least, in the opinion of the authors of this article.