But the German Federal Court of Justice today ruled that Lindt’s gold bear didn’t violate Haribo’s trademark, and nor did it copy the candies .
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Germany’s Federal Court of Justice ruled Lindt’s bear was neither a violation of Haribo’s trademark or an imitation of its fruit gum candies .
Rather than copying Haribo’s Gold Bear, Lindt said its chocolate teddies drew on the styling of the golden bunnies which are among the company’s best-known products.
Finding in favour of Lindt, the German court said the chocolate bears could be described in a number of ways such as “teddy” and “chocolate bear”.
The gelatin Haribo bear’s packaging features a cartoon bear with a red ribbon around its neck while Lindt’s gold-foil chocolate bear has a real ribbon around its neck. For the court, the chocolate teddies bore no resemblance to the much smaller jellies.
Lindt insisted its chocolate bears were based on its chocolate bunnies, a product it had been selling since the 1950s.
The ruling means Switzerland’s Lindt & Spruengli can continue to sell the chocolate bears that it introduced in 2011.
Also on Wednesday, the same court issued a ruling on a dispute brought by Germany’s Sparkasse savings banks against Spain’s giant Santander over the red color used on their logos. But the court ruled that the case needs to be heard again on appeal.
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The two sides had been locked in a three-year court battle after Haribo argued the two products were too similar and that people would confuse the two.
