Nestlé wins latest battle with Cadbury over the colour purple. On 4 October 2013, the Court of Appeal of England & Wales upheld an appeal brought by Nestlé in relation to Cadbury’s application to register the colour purple as a trade mark in respect of the packaging of chocolate. Whilst Cadbury’s application was for a specific shade of the colour purple (namely, Cadbury’s famous Pantone 2685C), the Court of Appeal found that the verbal description of the colour claimed by Cadbury was “too subjective, too imprecise, and inadequately clear and intelligible to be capable of registration”. Accordingly, Cadbury’s trade mark application for the colour purple in the UK (along with its October 2004 priority date) will now lapse, unless the decision is appealed and overturned by the European Court. The decision does not spell an end for colour trade marks in the UK, and should be regarded as separate from colour trade mark rights Cadbury has obtained in other countries such as Australia.
History of colour trade marks in Europe (a) a sign; Where to from here. The Colour Purple - Société Des Produits Nestlé S.A. v Cadbury UK Ltd. "The Color Purple" is a novel by Alice Walker which won its author the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1983. if you have not read the book here is Wikipedia's summary of the plot. It is a great book with a great story. The colour purple (or rather pantone 2685C) is only slightly less gripping. It is the subject of a tussle between two of the world's largest confectionery companies the latest stage of which has just ended in the Court of Appeal ( Société Des Produits Nestlé S.A. v Cadbury UK Ltd. [2013] EWCA Civ 1174 (4 Oct 2013)). It started on 15 Oct 2004 when Cadbury Limited (“Cadbury”) applied to register "the colour purple (Pantone 2685C), as shown on the form of application, applied to the whole visible surface, or being the predominant colour applied to the whole visible surface, of the packaging of the goods" as a trade mark for the following goods: "Class 30: Now a trade mark has to be capable of distinguishing goods or services of one undertaking from those of other undertakings.
Twitter. Nestlé would just like the UK IPO to give them a break. Cadbury has successfully blocked a UK trade mark Application by Nestlé for the shape of their KIT KAT four fingered chocolate bar Nestlé had applied in the UK for the above mark in respect of various goods in Class 30 ranging from chocolate products and chocolate confectionery to pastries, cakes and biscuits. Cadbury filed opposition to the Application on a number of grounds, including: the mark applied for consisted exclusively of the shape of the goods which was necessary to obtain a technical result; and the mark is devoid of distinctive character. Did the mark consist exclusively of the shape of the goods which was necessary to obtain a technical result? Having heard from witnesses for both parties who had given evidence about the functional aspects of the shape represented by the mark, the Hearing Officer concluded that: Hence, Nestlé’s shape Mark was only registrable for cakes and pastries.
Was the mark distinctive? What’s next? The Colour Purple – Société Des Produits Nestlé S.A. v Cadbury UK Ltd – NIPC Law. Purple Haze. It later appeared on the US version of the band's 1967 album Are You Experienced. "Purple Haze" has become one of the "archetypical psychedelic drug songs of the sixties".[4] Hendrix's virtuosic guitar techniques in Purple Haze would be emulated by many metal guitarists.[3] Overview[edit] Reportedly, the song came into being after the band's producer Chas Chandler heard him playing the riff backstage and suggested that he write lyrics to go with it. There is some dispute about the lyrics: supposedly written in the dressing room of the Upper Cut Club on Boxing Day, 1966, it is also believed that he wrote the lyrics in Westbourne Grove, Notting Hill.
Chandler claims that the lyrics were never cut in any way (though he admits that this was done on general principle with Hendrix's lyrics), while Hendrix stated that the original song contained much more text.[5] Hendrix himself denied the drug relation of the song claiming it to be merely another love song. Lyrics[edit] Mondegreen lyric[edit] Of Purple Haze and Scrabble Plays: appeal court says "no" to fuzzy trade mark descriptions. Nestlé wins appeal over Cadbury's attempt to trademark purple color - Food Business Review. FBR Staff WriterPublished 07 October 2013 Swiss food giant Nestlé has won a UK court appeal ruling against Cadbury over the latter's attempt to trademark the purple color packaging of its Dairy Milk bars. With this development, the Swiss firm overturned a decision from earlier ruling. In 2012, Cadbury won a legal, stopping other chocolate manufacturers from using a color known as Pantone 2865c for packaging.
The dispute has been running since 2008 when Nestlé opposed Cadbury's initial application for a color trademark. Last week, the Court of Appeal judges in London said that the trademark application by Cadbury lacks the required clarity, precision, self-containment, durability and objectivity to qualify for registration. The decision allows Nestlé and other confectionery manufacturers to use purple color for their packaging. "Our colour purple has been linked with Cadbury for a century and the British public has grown up understanding its link with our chocolate," the spokesman added. [The IPKat] Of Purple Haze and Scrabble Plays: appeal court says "no" to fuzzy trade mark descriptions. Before anyone else emails the IPKat to let him know, he can tell you that he is fully aware of the two big trade mark rulings from the Court of Appeal for England and Wales last Friday in Société Des Produits Nestlé S.A. v Cadbury UK Ltd [2013] EWCA Civ 1174 and JW Spear & Son Ltd, Mattel Inc and Mattel UK Ltd v Zynga Inc [2013] EWCA Civ 1175 and he will be providing separate Katposts on them in the fullness of time.
Meanwhile he is delighted to offer you the following note from Katfriend and jolly useful person Roland Mallinson (Taylor Wessing). Writes Roland: In two separate judgments but conjoined appeals, the Court of Appeal reversed previous decisions to cancel Cadbury's UK registration for the colour purple [critically reviewed by the AmeriKat here] and upheld the cancellation of Mattel's UK registration for a Scrabble tile [warmly welcomed by guest Kat Kate here].
The connection lies in the interpretation of Article 2 of TradeMarks Directive 2008/95. Copyright Katcontest - And the winners are ... The quick Katcontest launched last Wednesday to select two young copyright enthusiasts to attend the forthcoming London Copyright and Technology Conference for free attracted more than 40 entries from gifted poets, both under 33 (eligible for the competition) and over 33 (eligible for some poetry-related fun), who completed the following stanza in truly original and amusing ways: Roses are red, Violets are blue, Copyright is ... It was not easy to pick the winners, although eventually a decision had to be made. Well, the two enthusiastic copyright lovers who will attend the Conference for free are 23-year-old Aislinn O'Connell, a PhD student at University College London, and 30-year-old Dominik Niedersüss, an LLM student at the Munich Intellectual Property Law Centre. Aislinn's poem reads as follows [and, suggests Merpel, is also useful to revise latest copyright developments]: Roses are red,Violets are blue,Copyright is almost dead?
And this is Dominik's poem: Roses are red Violets are blue. The Color Purple: Nestlé v Cadbury. Following an unfortunate case of chocolate bar-related salmonella poisoning several years ago, the AmeriKat has never been able to view chocolate in the same tranquil light as the rest of her peers. She rarely eats it and if she does, its only a small amount. Her body, apparently, still recalls the liters of Gatorade laced with saltine crackers swirling in her hollow stomach and the disturbing thoughts that death may be the preferred option. So, as she sat down this evening to embarrassingly and belatedly continue tackling (having initially started on this only a day after the judgment) the latest Chancery Court masterpiece on the trade mark registrability of color from His Honour Judge Birss QC in Nestlé v Cadbury, she was half expecting a sudden wave of wooziness to come over her. Nestlé appealed and the case found its way to Judge Birss QC in May of this year.
The big point before Judge Birss QC was a point of principle - and gosh, do lawyers love those. 1. 2. Cadbury's purple reign in the UK over after Nestlé win legal row. Fri, 4 Oct 2013 | By Sebastian Joseph Cadbury is yet to decide whether it will challenge the latest ruling from the UK Court. Nestlé and any other sweet maker can sell chocolate products using the same colour purple used on packaging for Cadbury’s Dairy Milk bars in the UK after the chocolatier lost the latest round in a long-running legal battle with its rival. The UK Court of Appeal overturned an October 2012 ruling by the High Court to grant Cadbury UK exclusive use of the colour - known as Pantone 2865c - after it was challenged by Nestlé. Cadbury, which has been using the distinctive shade of purple since 1905, sparked the long-running feud in 2008 when it attempted to apply for a colour trademark.
The Court of Appeal said the trademark application does not “comply with the requirements for [trademark] registration”. A spokesman for Cadbury owner Mondelez International, says it is disappointed with the decision. Related Articles. Nestlé wins latest battle with Cadbury over the colour purple.