Bundeskartellamt welcomes complete decoupling of the trademark “Der Grüne Punkt“ (the Green Dot) from DSD waste management contracts

The Bundeskartellamt welcomes today’s announcement by Duales System Deutschland (DSD) that as of 1.1.2009 the company intends to completely decouple the use of its trademark “Der Grüne Punkt” (“The Green Dot”) from contracts for the disposal of sales packaging. Before announcing its plans DSD had held constructive discussions with the Bundeskartellamt.

The plan will further improve the competition conditions for the so-called yellow bin. In Germany, DSD and meanwhile eight other dual systems organise the collection and recycling of sales packaging in the yellow bin. DSD is at the same time owner of the trademark “the Green Dot”. To date manufacturers and distributors wishing to enlist the waste management services of a competitor of DSD had to change the “Green Dot” trademark on their packaging. The only means of avoiding this was for them to continue to contract out to DSD at least a share of the waste management services. Almost all the manufacturers and distributors decided to do this because changing the standard packaging design, used in most of the Länder within Germany, can be very expensive and the labelling of packaging with the Green Dot is still obligatory in other European countries. The plan to decouple will make it unnecessary in future for manufacturers and distributors to enlist DSD for a share of the waste management services.

As the dominant provider of rights of use in the “Green Dot” trademark, DSD has to observe the ban on abusive practices under competition law. DSD has assured the Bundeskartellamt that it will grant all its competitors’ customers right of use of the Green Dot at the same conditions as granted to its own customers. Vice-versa, DSD customers will not be obliged in future to print the Green Dot on their packaging. DSD may not charge excessive fees for the use of its trademark and will make its price list generally accessible and in an appropriate form.

Both chambers of parliament, Bundesrat and Bundestag, paved the way for DSD’s move by lifting the compulsory labelling of sales packaging in the amendment to the German Packaging Ordinance, as proposed by the Bundeskartellamt, among others. The amendment will take effect on 1.1.2009. The Bundesrat justified its decision by stating that compulsory labelling will be unnecessary in future and represented an unnecessary hindrance to competition.