SWISS COURT ORDERS LIDL TO DESTROY LINDT-LIKE CHOCOLATE BUNNIES

Sat 01 October 2022:

On Thursday, Switzerland’s highest court ruled in the favour of Lindt & Spruengli saying that their foil-wrapped chocolate bunnies deserve protection against copycat products including German discounter Lidl’s similar product. They ordered the latter to stop selling their product in the country and must destroy its stock of chocolate bunnies.

Lindt’s iconic chocolate bunny, wrapped in gold foil with a red ribbon and small bell, is sold in various sizes and it is one of their best-selling products. The Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland ruled that Lidl’s were too similar to that of Lindt & Spruengli whether it is wrapped in golden or silver foil.

This ruling overturned the one made last year which ruled in the favour of Lidl. According to reports, Lindt submitted surveys showing its Gold Bunny is known by the people, the court said, adding that the similarity in the product can confuse the public despite the differences between them.

Therefore the court ordered the destruction of Lidl’s stock of bunnies, “Destruction is proportionate, especially as it does not necessarily mean that the chocolate as such would have to be destroyed,” said the court. It also suggested that it could be melted and reused somehow.

Notably, this is not the first courtroom battle that Lindt had to fight to protect its trademark granted in 2001 for the bunny-shaped chocolate. The company sells at least tens of millions of them each year, especially around easter.

The issue of whether a chocolate bunny can be trademarked in the first place came before the European court of justice after a long rivalry between Lindt and Hauswirth, an Austrian chocolate maker. The latter was subsequently ordered by the Vienna court to stop the production of its chocolate bunnies.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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