Cadbury’s purple reign in doubt
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 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 using ‘‘Cadbury purple’’ on chocolates.
Experts predict that a recent British Court of Appeal ruling 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 that its failure to ‘‘future proof’’ that trademark hinged on a legal technicality which leaves ‘‘one feeling sympathy for Cadbury’’.
Cadbury, owned by Mondelez International, has now surrendered its original 1995 registration to be able to exclusively use the colour.
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 could wear a purple toga.