Thursday 17 September 2015

Nestle Loses European Support Over Legal Row With KitKat

The European Court of Justice was not convinced when Nestle presented evidence it could trademark the shape of the famous KitKat chocolate bar snack. Nestle showed the judges the public needed the shape to identify the famous confectionery product. Judges said Nestle couldn't prove the goods did not need to show a brand name such as KitKat to minimise confusion.



Nestle said that in the last 80 years since KitKat was introduced to the public, the four fingers were associated only with KitKat bars. Nestle sought to trademark it. But a European Court Lawyer disagreed that the trademarking did not comply with EU law.

Mischon de Reya Intellectual Property Lawyer Sally Brighton said it was not the first time Nestle had tried to trademark difficult product characteristics.

One of these was the KitKat slogan "Have a Break", which took 40 years until courts approved the slogan in 2006.

The legal row with Kitkat is a series of legal battles between Nestle and Cadbury over product trademarks. The row began when Cadbury attempted to trademark the purple colour it uses for its 
Cadbury chocolate wrappers. Nestle had overturned the trademark.

Meanwhile, Cadbury had worked hard to play down Nestle's attempt to trademark the KitKat shape.