The UK’s Supreme Court has refused to allow Mondelez International to appeal an earlier ruling preventing the group from trademarking the shade of purple used by the Cadbury brand.
Last October, a Court of Appeals backed Nestle’s bid to overturn Mondelez’s attempt to gain trademark protection for the colour. Had Mondelez been successful, it would have prevent the use of the Dairy Milk purple across a range of products.
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The Supreme Court ruling means the long-running case is now closed as Mondelez has no further recourse, a spokesperson for Nestle told just-food.
“We welcome the Supreme Court’s final decision to refuse Mondelez’s request for permission to appeal the Court of Appeal decision of October 2013. We believe the Court of Appeal decision was the right outcome from a legal perspective,” the spokesperson said.
Responding to the decision, Mondelez stressed its right to continue to protect its brand equity.
“We are disappointed by this latest decision but it’s important to point out that it does not affect our long held right to protect our distinctive colour purple from others seeking to pass off their products as Cadbury chocolate,” a spokesperson told just-food.
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By GlobalData“Our colour purple has been linked with Cadbury for a century and the British public has grown up understanding its link with our chocolate.”
