IKEA Bans Parody: Freedom Of Expression Must Yield To Trademark

The Belgian political party Vlaams Belang used the well-known IKEA trademark and IKEA drawings in a parody to draw attention to its anti-immigration position: “IKEA-PLAN. Immigration – There is another way.”

Is this an infringement of IKEA’s EU trademark? That requires use as a trademark, meaning that Vlaams Belang uses the mark to designate its own product or service. The Court of Justice of the European Union held that this also includes advertising for a political party programme. Vlaams Belang uses the IKEA trademark specifically to take advantage of the mark’s reputation, making its own political message stand out even more. Here, that political freedom of expression carries less weight than IKEA’s interest in being able to invoke its trademark rights. Vlaams Belang therefore lacks “due cause” for this use of the IKEA trademark.