World-pallet – in competition with EPAL pallets
Neither the German Pallet Association for Quality Assurance (GPAL), nor the European Pallet Association (EPAL) had been very happy when Falkenhahn AG launched their new product World-Pallet. EPAL and GPAL fight against “free riders” benefiting from the pallet pool without paying franchise fees. The German pallet manufacturer Falkenhahn emphasized the price advantage of the new World-Pallet for the standard European dimension of 800 x 1200 mm. With its new product, Falkenhahn AG targets mostly the exporters. The fact that the pallets are produced in a fully automated manufacturing process and are not subject to the usual franchise fees, which otherwise must be paid, results in direct savings of 10 to 20% when purchasing the pallets. Falkenhahn AG published a clarification concerning the trademark situation. According to the investigations by the patent attorney Dr. Hans-Dieter Schmalz, World-Pallets fulfil the same technical requirements as all other pallets known by the consumer as Europallets and bearing the trademarks EPAL, CHEP and LPR. The new brand name was certified by the Office of Harmonization in Alicante and legally registered.