EU court says Belgian far-right party cannot use IKEA in migrant campaign

The EU's top court said Vlaams Belang could not use IKEA branding in its anti-immigration campaign. The ruling strengthens trademark protections and undercuts the party's free speech defence.

In Short

• Vlaams Belang unveiled an IKEA-styled plan to tighten Belgium's immigration rules
• IKEA sued, alleging unauthorised trademark use across logos, signs and visuals
• Campaign organisers claimed the branding borrowed was protected political expression

The European Union's highest court on Tuesday ruled that a far-right Belgian party was not entitled to use IKEA's trademarks to promote an anti-immigration campaign, saying the move may have caused "significant detriment" to the furniture giant's reputation.

The case relates to a 2022 campaign by the Belgian far-right and Flemish separatist party Vlaams Belang. While a Belgian court will take the final call, it is expected to consider the guidance issued by the European Court of Justice while deciding the matter.

At a press conference in 2022, Vlaams Belang unveiled what it called the "IKEA Plan – Immigration Really Can Be Different", using IKEA-style logos, signs and imagery to present proposals aimed at tightening immigration rules in Belgium.

IKEA then filed an infringement action before a Belgian court, arguing that its trademarks had been used illegally. In response, the Vrijheidsfonds association, which handled the campaign on behalf of the party, argued that its use of the company's trademarks without permission was protected by freedom of expression.

The Belgian court referred the case to the European Court of Justice, which found that "the use of those IKEA trade marks may cause significant detriment to the repute of those trade marks and to the interests of their proprietor". The court said invoking freedom of expression in such cases requires the trademarks to be used in good faith or in the public interest, conditions that did not appear to be met. It added that it did not appear that using IKEA's reputation to spread a political message took precedence over IKEA's rights and interests.

With the European court siding with IKEA on the use of its trademarks, the matter will now return to the Belgian court, which is expected to take this guidance into account before issuing its final ruling.

With PTI Inputs

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