Are you #TeamCadbury or #TeamNestle?
Don’t know yet? Well, if these two companies continue to wage war, you just might need to pick a side.
Over the last decade, the two beloved chocolate giants have been at war – a trademark war.
It all started in 2004, when Cadbury filed its initial trademark application in the UK for its coveted purple shade (the shade Pantone 2685C, to be exact). Nestle quickly responded by opposing the trademark application, thereby denying Cadbury from exclusively owning its famous purple shade as a registered trademark.
Why does this matter? It’s just a color, right? Wrong. The unique shade of purple is famous throughout the world as being the color of Cadbury chocolate.
The dispute was taken to the UK’s Intellectual Property Office, which ruled that the purple shade of Pantone 2685C was distinctive to the Cadbury brand and Crunchie lovers everywhere rejoiced! GOOO #TeamCadbury! Nestle attempted to appeal this decision in the High Court, but it was dismissed.
Unfortunately for Cadbury, their troubles weren’t over. For the next six years, Cadbury battled in court with Australian confectioner Darrell Lea over the purple shade. And during that time, Nestle objected once again (and even ‘happened’ to come out with a chocolate bar called “Quality Street My Purple Bar” encased in a wrapper of a very similar shade of purple…!).
Finally in 2013, the original decision to give Cadbury ownership of the color was finally overturned and Cadbury’s reign over the color purple in the chocolate world was over.
Recently, Nestle has attempted to register a trademark for the distinctive four-fingered shape of its Kit Kat bar, arguing its physical form has been uniquely associated with the company since its 1935 beginnings. In response, Cadbury (and its US owners, Mondelez International) filed an opposition against the Nestle trademark application, claiming that the four-fingered shape lacked distinctiveness and that the shape was merely to achieve a technical result. Nestle’s application was ultimately rejected by the High Court in 2013, and more recently, the EU law. Take that, Nestle!
With no end in sight to these trademark wars, it might just be time for you to decide: are you #TeamCadbury or #TeamNestle?