PETROF may trade and use its trademark without restriction in the U.S. market!

Hradec Králové, Czech Republic,  January 14, 2008

On December 14, 2007, the U.S. District Court for the North District of Illinois, East Division, dismissed GIC´s application for giving an immediate ruling to prohibit Petrof from using its trademark in the U.S. and selling its pianos until licence expiration (until 2012). The Court justified its judgement by the fact that the conditions for giving an immediate ruling suggested have not been met. In addition, the Court stated that the dispute between companies GIC and Petrof should be settled by the arbitration that is currently in progress in the Czech Republic. 

Zuzana Ceral Petrof, CEO of the Hradec Králové-based piano manufacturer, commented it as follows:
„By virtue of the U.S. Court´s judgement,  Petrof may continue to use its trademark without restriction and directly sell its products in the U.S. At present, there is not any judicial decision to prohibit that.“

The Court dismissed the application for giving an immediate ruling  - so it disallowed the  GIC´s reasoning and, in fact, made it possible for Petrof to continue to directly sell its products in the U.S. market. The Hradec Králové-based company successfully started the selling in December 2007. In addition, the Court´s judgement means that any possible restriction on Petrof´s trade activities in the U.S. market may only be based on the outcome of the arbitration.