Chocolate Bar Wars – Trademark Fight Over Kit Kat

Nestlé and Cadbury have been locked in a legal battle over Nestlé’s attempt to trademark the ‘four-finger’ shape of its KitKat chocolate bar in the UK since 2010.

Earlier this week, the Court of Justice of the European Union handed down its much-anticipated decision about whether the shape of the Kit Kat bar could be considered distinctive, in the context of a trademark application.

They held that, for the purposes of registration, the applicant must prove that the mark alone, in this case the ‘four-finger’ shape, identifies where the goods originated.

The case will now be remitted back to the High Court, which will make the final decision about whether Nestlé can register the ‘four-finger’ shape as a trade mark in the UK. To be successful, Nestlé will now need to prove that consumers associate the ‘four-finger’ shape of its KitKat bars, in absence of the KitKat logo, with Nestlé.

This latest ruling is just another chapter in the trade mark battles between competitors Cadbury and Nestlé which began over 10 years ago when Nestlé opposed Cadbury’s registration of the purple colour used in its chocolate wrappers.