Footwear brand Birkenstock has won a landmark copyright case against German discount supermarket chain Lidl.

A district court in Arnhem, the Netherlands, has prohibited Lidl from selling unauthorized copies of Birkenstock’s Arizona, Madrid, Gizeh, Boston and Florida models in the country, with non-compliance subject to a €5000 ($5600) fine per day.

The court also ordered Lidl to compensate Birkenstock for the damage caused and reimburse its legal costs, with the specific amounts to be determined in separate proceedings. 

The Dutch court’s decision is different from that of the German Federal Court of Justice, which denied copyright protection for the brand last year. The latest judgment may still be appealed. 

“To protect its retail partners and consumers, Birkenstock will continue to take decisive action against copycats seeking to profit from the company’s creative ideas and innovations,” the company said in a statement.

Birkenstock was founded in 1774 by Johann Adam Birkenstock in the German village of Langen-Bergheim. The brand now sells its products in approximately 100 countries globally. It entered the US market in 1966.

Lidl opened its first modern discount grocery store in 1973 in Ludwigshafen and has grown to around 13,000 stores across 32 countries worldwide. It entered the US in 2017 and currently has more than 185 stores across nine states and Washington, DC. 

Last year, the District Court of Midden-Nederland ordered shoe retailer Scapino to cease selling Birkenstock lookalikes. That judgment is currently under appeal. 

In the US, Birkenstock is pursuing similar legal proceedings against White Mountain Footwear and its parent company, American Exchange Group. 

• Further reading: Birkenstock steps into Malibu.