Cadbury has won a legal battle after Nestlé took the company to court, challenging an earlier ruling which gave the former company exclusive use of Pantone 2685C – the particular type of purple used in Dairy Milk packaging. Despite Nestle arguing that the colour should not be protected as a trade mark, the judge ruled that this particular shade had been linked to the chocolate bar for more than 90 years.
Intellectual property partner in DWF’s food group, Ed Meikle, said: “The importance of this decision for Cadburycannot be underestimated. Arguably, the colour is one of the chocolate manufacturer’s most important assets and as such, the company would undoubtedly have appealed the decision if it had lost.
“Perhaps Nestlé was simply testing what is currently acceptable to the Courts; but it must have known that challenging a core asset of its arch rival could be provocative.
“For some time, a single colour has been recognised in law as capable of being a trade mark –but only for a particular colour and for specific products or services”