Is Cadbury’s purple reign over?
Makers of Dairy Milk lose court battle protecting company’s signature colour
LONDON For more than a century, Cadbury’s Dairy Milk chocolate bars have been wrapped in a distinctive purple. The colour was chosen because it was Queen Victoria’s favourite and it even adorns Bournville train station, where Cadbury built its Birmingham, England, factory 140 years ago.
But now the sweet manufacturer has been dealt a legal blow in a long-running “chocolate war,” weakening its ability to prevent rivals from using “Cadbury purple” on chocolates.
Experts predict a recent Court of Appeal ruling in London against Cadbury and the confectioner’s subsequent withdrawal of a 24-year-old trademark could see competitors packaging chocolates swathed in the purple so strongly associated with the company.
Cadbury tried last year to update its 1995 trademark for the colour, called Pantone 2685C, after a challenge by rival Nestle proved the legal wording was too wide ranging. The Swiss company lodged its opposition over fears that Cadbury ’s claim on the colour could threaten Nestle’s Quality Street hazelnut and caramel chocolate, called the Purple One, and the vibrant decoration on the assortment’s box.
Three judges issued a ruling against Cadbury, adding its failure to “future proof ” that trademark hinged on a legal technicality that leaves “one feeling sympathy for Cadbury.”
Now Cadbury, owned by Mondelez International, has surrendered its original 1995 registration to be able to exclusively use the colour.
Rebecca Anderson-Smith, trademark attorney at Mewburn Ellis, described the latest twists as “bad news” for Cadbury because it allows “long-term adversary” Nestle to launch a legal challenge.
“It seems Cadbury realized their existing U.K. trademark registration for that purple would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to enforce as they appear to have voluntarily surrendered the registration.
“They still own a separate U.K. trademark registration for that purple covering ‘chocolate in bar or tablet form,’ but this includes the same description of the mark previously considered too broad by the Court of Appeal. Consequently, it is open to attack by Nestle and others for being invalidly registered. It will be interesting to see if Cadbury voluntarily surrenders this registration as well.”
A Nestle spokesman hinted the battle was far from over, explaining it has products that “famously use the colour purple.”
“As with all colour trademarks, it is therefore important that the scope of any rights over the colour purple are clear and precise and limited to those products where it has acquired distinctiveness.”
John Bradley, who worked at the Birmingham-based company for 25 years and wrote Cadbury’s Purple Reign: The Story Behind Chocolate’s Best Loved Brand, said he chose the title and purple cover of his book because it was “indelibly associated” with Cadbury.
He said purple was chosen for Dairy Milk, launched in 1905, because it was the “emperor of chocolates” and during the Roman Empire only the emperor was allowed to wear a purple toga.
NOTE: MALCOLM PARRY IS ON VACATION