Confectioner Cadbury has hailed a small victory in its legal battle with Nestle over the use of the distinctive purple colour it uses in its branding.
The two rivals are currently involved in long-running proceedings after Nestle initiated proceedings with the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) in an attempt to get Cadbury’s trademark rights to the purple colour, officially known as pantone 2685c, revoked.
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Now the IPO has ruled that the trademark will apply to chocolate bars and drinking chocolate but is still mulling whether the right extends to chocolate confectionery and assortments.
A spokesperson from Cadbury, which was acquired by US food company Kraft Foods last year, welcomed the judgement.
He said: “This is a long-running action by us to protect our famous colour purple and we’re pleased with this ruling. It’s one of the three iconic images associated with Cadbury – the other two being the curly ‘C’ and the glass and a half. It’s vital to us in an incredibly impulse-driven market. This colour is clearly associated to Cadbury and something we jealously guard.”
The Cadbury brothers who founded the company used the colour purple after they discovered it was Queen Victoria’s favourite colour, more than a hundred years ago.
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By GlobalDataNestle UK declined to comment as a final judgement has not taken place.
