Mondelez, a US-based multinational confectionery company, has recently threatened legal action against Primal Pantry, a London-based vegan snack maker, over the color of its Milka chocolate range. Mondelez has alleged that the cocoa bar owned by Primal Pantry exploits the trademark of Milka.
The lawyers fighting the case for Mondelez are now demanding that the use of lilac packaging in Primal Pantry’s cocoa bar must stop, and for every time the company infringes upon the trademark of Mondelez, it must pay £5,200 as penalty. On the other hand, Primal Pantry, owned by Nurture Brands, denies hurting or exploiting Mondelez’s trademark.
Adam Draper, the Managing Director at Nurture Brands, said in a statement delivered that the cocoa snack bars were launched in the market in 2016 in a wide range of colors for having a good differentiation on the shelf together. He further said that the packaging of the cocoa bars is neither in the same color as that of Mondelez’s Milka chocolate range nor in the same spectrum. He also mentioned that Mondelez, despite the legal letter, has not provided any evidence to prove that the packaging color is similar enough to infringe upon the Milka trademark.
Nurture Brands, founded in London, supplies snacks that are plant-based all across Europe. It has employed 26 people in its Barbican headquarters and runs a factory in northeast England.
Mr. Draper is of the view that if Mondelez could prove that the packaging color of the cocoa bar is in the same color range as Milka, he would cooperate with the company, but in no case would he throw away all his products in the EU for an irrelevant justification. He also estimated that recalling the products and removing all packaging that at present is in circulation could cost somewhere between £30,000 and £50,000 without factoring in all the fines.
Mondelez owns many widely-known brands and names, such as Toblerone and Oreo. Even the British brands Kenco and Cadbury are a part of its empire. Cadbury, its subsidiary, lost an appeal in 2019 to safeguard the specific shade of purple that it uses to wrap its range of chocolates.
A spokesperson for Mondelez said that the company owns a Color Trademark in Europe for the unique lilac-colored packaging of Milka and its other brands. He further said that for safeguarding the value of all the brands, which have taken hundreds of years to earn goodwill in the market, Mondelez expresses its concerns to third parties whenever they use a protected brand element. He also mentioned that Mondelez has opened up conversations with Primal Pantry to try and resolve the issue amicably. For more visit: https://www.trademarkmaldives.com
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