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LAWSUIT

Cartoon cow sparks dairy law suit

The Skånemejerier wants rival dairy company Arla to pay one million kronor ($167,000) in fines over an illustrated cow which bears a close resemblance to the former’s own logo.

Published: 14 July 2008 18:09 CEST
Cartoon cow sparks dairy law suit
Image: Arla; Skånemejerier

In a case filed in Sweden’s Market Court, Skånemejerier claims that the cow on Arla’s Powercow milkshake product looks too similar to its own mascot, Kalvin the cow, reports the Dagens Media magazine.

In addition to the fine, Skånemejerier also wants Arla to pay damages and to “destroy or change all product packaging, signs, advertising material, websites, business documents or similar, which is included in the ban”.

But Anders Svensson, the head of Arla in Sweden, is perplexed by Skånemejerier’s bovine bloviating.

“We haven’t done anything wrong,” he told Dagens Media.

“We are surprised at Skånemejerier’s reaction.”

He theorizes that the rival dairy has filed the suit because of Arla’s decision to launch its Powercow milkshake product in Sweden this year, noting that the product has been on sale in the Middle East for the last decade.

LAWSUIT

Spanish woman sues for millions after learning she was switched at birth

A 19-year-old woman is seeking millions of euros in damages after it emerged that she was accidentally swapped with another newborn at a Spanish hospital nearly two decades ago.

Published: 8 September 2021 15:45 CEST
Spanish woman sues for millions after learning she was switched at birth
Photo: Loic Venance/AFP

The babies were mixed up in 2002 after they were born five hours apart and placed in incubators at the San Millan de Logrono in northern Spain, due to a “one-off human error,” regional health authorities said.

The error was discovered four years ago after one of the girls who was switched underwent a DNA test as part of dispute over child support payments.

The woman, now 19, is demanding compensation of €3 million ($3.5 million) from health authorities for having been handed to the wrong family, her lawyer Jose Saez-Morga told AFP.

“We are talking about huge damages, which will last her whole life and which will never be repaired,” he said.

Health authorities in the Rioja region have so far only offered the woman, who prefers to remain anonymous, 215,000 euros in compensation, he added.

The regional health chief, Sara Alba, said computer systems back then did not have as many details as they do today, and stressed that a similar mix-up could not happen again.

Officials are “not aware” of any other cases at the hospital, which has since closed, she told a news conference on Tuesday.

“We have not been able to determine who is to blame for this mistake,” Alba said.

“It was a one-off human error which could not happen today. We can guarantee that this will not happen again.”

Saez-Morga said the other young woman switched at birth and her family have also undergone DNA testing.

She has also asked to remain anonymous and has so far not filed a lawsuit, he added.

According to Spanish media reports, one woman was sent to live with a couple who she believed to be her parents while the other, who has filed the lawsuit, was raised mostly by a woman she mistakenly thought was her grandmother.

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