In 2004, Volkswagen contested an application granted to Suzuki allowing the Japanese company to use the vehicle nameplate "SWIFT GTi" as a trademark for a derivative of its small car.

The General Court of the European Union said in March that the Suzuki version could not be confused with its own high-performance Golf GTI, which it had trademarked in Germany and other international markets.

The ruling came when the two companies were embroiled in a separate arbitration battle over whether Volkswagen may be forced to divest its near-20 percent stake in Suzuki, bought for 1.7 billion euros ($2.2 billion) as part of a broad alliance agreed more than two years ago.

German daily Die Welt earlier said Volkswagen had dropped its appeal several weeks ago already.

(Reporting by Stefanie Huber; Writing by Maria Sheahan)

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