Confectioner Cadbury has hailed a victory in its legal battle with Nestle over the use of the distinctive purple colour it uses in its branding.

Swiss confectioner Nestle, which has been trying to stop the chocolate maker from obtaining the exclusive rights since 2008, today (1 October) had its appeal rejected.

The two rivals have been involved in a long-running dispute 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.

A Cadbury’s spokesman told just-food today that it welcomed the decision of the High Court, which allows it to now register the colour as a trade mark and “protect” its “famous colour purple” across a range of milk chocolate products.

“Our colour purple has been linked with Cadbury for more than a century and the British public have grown up understanding its link with our chocolate,” he said.

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