Austrian Retailer Kika Rejects Romanian Mobexpert Accusations Of Disloyal Competition

Kika said its slogan “Thousands of ideas to decorate your bedroom” is used in all countries where Kika opened stores, not only in Romania.

"Kika promotes loyal and fair competition in all countries and, every time it enters a new market, it does its utmost to respect and adjust to the traditions of the respective country. We are very surprised by our rival’s reaction, considering that we already issued a written statement on the matter several weeks ago, yet we have not received an official statement so far," the company’s general manager Alexandru Creanga, said in a press release.

Kika official also said the company had not been subpoenaed yet.

The press release also said Kika wishes to promote a loyal competition in Romania too and invited Mobexpert officials to open talks on the matter.

Mobexpert, owned by Romanian businessman Dan Sucu, said Friday it sued retailer kika for breaching industrial property rights.

The slogan in question, “Thousands of ideas to decorate your bedroom” is similar to an older slogan used by Mobexpert and registered at OSIM (State Office for Inventions and Trademarks – e.n.), namely “Thousands of beautiful ideas, not necessarily the most expensive ones.”

“We were upset by kika’s arrogance, which entered the Romanian market recently and never bothered to check if they breach any protected industrial rights,” Mobexpert’s lawyer Alexander Popa said Friday.

The case will be tried before the Bucharest Courthouse on January 27.

Mobexpert is leading retailer on the Romanian furniture and interior design market. Its main rivals are IKEA, Elvila, Staer and kika.

Austria’s kika opened its first store in Romania in December last year, following an investment of EUR31 million.