Unilever
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The British-Dutch giant has taken legal action accusing Moscow firm Metelitsa of trademark infringement of its Viennetta ice cream cake. Metelista markets a similar rectangular cake consisting of thin layers of chocolate between folds of vanilla ice cream. The Metelista product is sold in a similar designed box to Unilever’s with an almost identical name: Venetsiya.
Metelitsa have refuted Unilever’s claims arguing that the form of an ice-cream cake cannot be trademarked any more than the shape of a sausage.
Unilever petitioned the Anti-Monopoly Ministry a few months ago to close down production of Venetsiya. Rospatent, the government trademark agency, found in favour of Unilever, but Metelista have begun efforts to cancel the registration of the trademark Viennetta in response.
It will argue that the appearance of a product cannot be copyrighted. It also intends to argue that the cakes resemble each other because they are made by virtually the same Tetra Pak equipment.
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By GlobalData
