The City of Munich plans to tap the fame of its world-famous Oktoberfest beer festival by seeking copyright protection from the EU Intellectual Property Office (headquartered in Alicante, Spain) for the word Oktoberfest thetimes.co.uk and all Munich local media reported yesterday, August 5, 2016.

The Times writes:

“If successful anyone using the term, such as tour operators, festival organisers and makers of anything from soap to teddy bears to dirndls will have to pay a licence fee. The move could unleash a torrent of revenue because the Oktoberfest lends its name to festivals all over the globe, including hundreds in Germany, and to a huge array of merchandise.”

The City says that it hasn’t asked for the protection of the name in to earn money, but in order to protect the image of the traditional beer festival as an event which is unique to the Bavarian capital.

Munich based sueddeutsche.de doesn’t seem to take the whole idea to serious and jokes about the City running its own merchandising business with a specialised tent at the Oktoberfest selling the stuff. They propose the profits to be used to build a golden fence around the Theresienwiese. As for merchandising products, they suggest an Oktoberfest shower gel with grilled chicken fragrance and an Oktoberfest laundry detergent which could be promoted with the claim to be the best in removing vomit stains.

6 million beer loving visitors are expected at the 183rd instalment of the traditional Bavarian beer festival in 2016. This year the Oktoberfest is set to take place at the Theresienwiese from Saturday, September 17 until Monday, October 3 (German Reunification Day).