Sweet purple victory
Cadbury has won a trademark dispute with Nestlé over the rights to the colour purple.
Nestlé challenged the trademark on a number of grounds including that the application was being made in bad faith and that the mark in relation to which an application was being made lacked distinctiveness.
Generally, colours are only capable of registration as trademarks if the owner can establish that the colour has acquired distinctive character through use. Cadbury had to provide substantial evidence of the use of the purple colour on its packaging as well as association by the public of the purple Pantone 2685C colour.
Nestlé had also claimed that Cadbury had registered the mark in bad faith but this was rejected as “absurd”. ”
IPO said that, although it had given consideration to the “public interest” in ensuring that a “monopoly” on the use of a finite number of colours did not occur, there was no doubt Cadbury’s use of purple had acquired sufficient goodwill.
However, it will obviously not be the last we have heard of this case, as a decision on wider chocolate confectionery has yet to be made.
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Katrine Kjoeller, Editor
Sweets & Snacks Europe
