Cadbury withdraws legal claim over classic purple wrapping
Cadbury has reportedly decided not further appeal a decision over its bid to alter an existing trademark that had protect the company’s distinctive purple chocolate bar wrapping.
According to parent company Mondelez International, the business would not be undertaking further action on the matter following a rejection of its previous legal claim over its distinctive packaging style.
As Confectionery Production reported in December, the company had expressed ‘disappointment’ at a Court of Appeal ruling in the UK. The business had sought to alter an original registered claim relating to its popular bars that stated its hue of purple “applied to the whole visible surface, or being the predominant colour applied to the whole visible surface, of the packaging.”
According to reports of the case, the company had looked to drop the latter part of the wording, which would give it further trademarks over bars that were not entirely made with purple designs.
The company said that a hundred years worth of a close association with the colour meant it would fight hard to protect its designs over competing manufacturers.
Industry observers have noted that its failure to win a ruling at the UK Court of Appeal could make it more likely that rival companies would seek to develop their own similar equivalents.
There have been several similar cases in the past year, most notably with another Mondelez product, Toblerone, which took issue with UK retailer Poundland producing a near-identical product, Twin Peaks, which featured packaging that was considered by judges to be too close to that of the iconic brand.
