The federal lawsuit surrounding the highly popular Leavenworth Oktoberfest has finally reached its conclusion.
Last year, the city of Leavenworth filed a lawsuit against Projekt Bayern, the long-standing organizer of the festival, as the nonprofit organization prepared to launch an event under the name "Leavenworth Oktoberfest" at the Town Toyota Center in Wenatchee, 20 miles away. The city alleged that this name choice constituted an advertising and trademark infringement, deliberately intended to divert customers from the official 2022 Oktoberfest hosted by the Leavenworth Chamber of Commerce. Responding to the city's legal action, Projekt Bayern countered by filing a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Spokane, including the chamber as a defendant.
However, an initial ruling rejected Projekt Bayern's claim to the exclusive use of the "Leavenworth Oktoberfest" name, except for its application as a social media hashtag. Late last week, all parties involved reached a settlement agreement, prompting them to drop the lawsuit.
Both the Leavenworth Chamber of Commerce and Projekt Bayern have confirmed their plans to proceed with their respective Oktoberfest events this year, each taking place on separate weekends, thereby introducing healthy competition among them. To be clear, the event organized by Projekt Bayern in Wenatchee will be known simply as "Projekt Bayern's Oktoberfest." With the litigation now behind them, festival-goers can look forward to experiencing two Oktoberfest events now in Leavenworth and Wenatchee.
