Polar Bear Knut Gets Protection From European Union Court

The owners of Knut, the Berlin polar bear reared by zookeepers after his mother abandoned him, won a European Union court challenge over the EU-wide trademark rights to the animal’s name.

The EU General Court in Luxembourg today ruled in favor of the Berlin zoo’s bid to get European trademark rights to the bear’s name. The zoo is in litigation with U.K. company Knut IP Management over the names ‘Knut’ and ‘Knut der Eisbaer’ and won a first round at the bloc’s trademark authority in March 2010.