Choc to the system

Kit Kat cannot use its classic four trapezoidal fingers as a trademark, the European Court of Justice has ruled. Give us a break, you might exclaim. Is snackery a trifle worthy of this supreme judicial body, which holds all Europe in thrall? Well, it might be a snappy choccy biccy to you, but to Nestlé it’s bread and butter. A rival bar is big bucks (or copious kroner) in Norway. Called Kvikk Lunsj (Quick Lunch), it looks just like a Kit Kat, as it has ever since 1939. Mysteriously, its wrapper is striped red, yellow and green, like the national flag of Bolivia. It was marketed as a sort of chocolatey Kendal Mint Cake – a hikers’ energy boost. In England, Rowntree (as it was) preferred the name of the old Kit Kat Club, a Whiggish clique. The club gave its name to a definite size of portrait. Kit Kat failed to do something similar for a chocolate bar.