16-07-2025
Court sides with Amarula in trademark battle over rival's name
Noble Spirits has lost its bid to appeal a decision banning it from launching a competitor to Distell's world-famous Amarula because the new product's name was too similar.
A new would-be player in the marula liqueur game, Noble Spirits, has lost its bid to appeal a decision banning it from launching a competitor to Distell's world-famous Amarula because the new product's name was too similar.
In a judgment handed down, the Western Cape High Court found in favour of Distell's subsidiary Southern Liqueur Company, when rival Noble Spirits took a previous matter on appeal.
Towards the end of last year, Distell went to the same court in a bid to stop Noble from launching a marula alcoholic drink called Afrula. In that bid, Distell was successful as the Judge ruled that Distell 'acquired a clear and protectable right and that the infringement of such rights causes it potential harm or potential injury'.
Distell first learnt that Noble aimed to get the Afrula name trademarked in April 2019, at which time the legal battle started. The Amarula maker argued that, not only were the names similar, but also the fact that the label had what looked like an elephant – like its own product – would confuse customers.
Amarula as a brand has been in use since September 1989.
Noble stated that this was not a side view of an elephant head, but rather a side view of an African woman. Distell's competitor also argued that Distell 'cannot claim exclusive right to monopolize the word 'marula' thereby restricting its ordinary usage in the English language by other traders,' the November 2024 judgement read.
