LINDT CANNOT TRADEMARK CHOCOLATE BUNNY SHAPE SAY EUROPEAN JUDGES
December 1st, 2010
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled Swiss chocolatier Lindt & Sprüngli cannot trademark the shape and golden wrapping (with associated bell and ribbon) of its signature rabbit and reindeer chocolates. The company wanted these to become European Union (EU) trademarks, possibly impeding other EU manufacturers from making rabbit and reindeer-shaped chocolates. But because Easter bunnies and Christmas reindeers are common chocolate designs, the ECJ has ruled them too generic and to be trademarked this way: being "typical shapes ...
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