A far-right attempt at political parody was dismantled by a European court like an old Billy bookcase. Flemish party Vlaams Belang’s anti-immigration campaign spoofing Ikea’s assembly instructions “may cause significant detriment” to the furniture-maker’s reputation, the Court of Justice of the European Union said in a ruling Tuesday. In 2022, Vlaams Belang presented its “IKEA-Plan”, standing for “Immigratie Kan Echt Anders” or “Immigration can really be different.” Proposals to reform Belgium’s immigration policy were illustrated with the Swedish giant’s blue-and-yellow logo and the smiley characters found in its instruction sheets.
The firm sued Vlaams Belang in Belgium in November 2022, alleging trademark law infringement. The Belgian business court then asked the CJEU for its advice on how to strike the balance between freedom of expression and the right of a business to defend its trademark. The fact that Vlaams Belang’s campaign was completely unrelated to Ikea’s business — and that people may have believed that the company had endorsed it — weighed into the ruling, said Elena Izyumenko, assistant professor in intellectual property law at Amsterdam’s Institute for Information Law.
The case will now return to the Belgian court, which will rely on the CJEU’s interpretation of the law to issue its ruling. Looking at the CJEU’s ruling, “It’s almost obvious that it will rule against Vlaams Belang,” Izyumenko said. Ikea did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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