Schweppes vs Red Paralela: the Supreme Court finally rules in our favour.

After nine years and two months of litigation, the Tribunal Supremo (Spain's Supreme Court) has set aside the judgment of the Audiencia Provincial de Barcelona (Barcelona Provincial Court of Appeal) and upheld the judgment of the Court of First Instance No. 8 of Barcelona, finally ruling in favour of Red Paralela and against Schweppes S.A. and Orangina Schweppes Holding B.V.

Read the Supreme Court judgment in the Schweppes vs Red Paralela case here.

We first won a favourable judgment at the Court of First Instance No. 8 of Barcelona, thanks in part to the ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union, which found in our favour. Then came the severe setback of the Audiencia Provincial de Barcelona's judgment in favour of Schweppes, which tried to destabilise our company by forcing us to lodge an enormous bond, on top of equally enormous legal costs. Now, at last, justice has been done.

Meanwhile, over these years, as a result of the mass legal actions brought by Schweppes the length and breadth of Spain, many distributors gave in to Schweppes's pressure and paid varying sums of money to avoid being sued and going to court. Other cases, involving those who did not give in to the pressure or simply had no choice, ended up in court: some were decided in favour of the distributors, others in favour of Schweppes, and some were left pending the final outcome of our case, the main one in this dispute.

Through all this, Schweppes managed to stamp out the distribution in Spain of Schweppes tonic made in the United Kingdom, getting rid of an inconvenient competitor and thereby being able to impose its high prices in Spain, very different from those of the UK-made Schweppes. A practice entirely contrary to the free movement of goods within the EU.

Unfortunately, Brexit has ruled out any chance of resuming sales of UK-made Schweppes, since the country is no longer part of the EU. So, for all practical purposes, Schweppes got what it wanted.

It has been a very, very long, painful and extremely costly process, and a great act of faith on our part and on the part of our lawyers, the law firm Pellisé, who stood firm in their (and our) convictions and finally led us to victory.