Lindt defeats Haribo in German gold bears TM ruling
Chocolate maker Lindt & Sprüngli has defeated German confectionery company Haribo in a trademark dispute surrounding gold bears.
In a decision handed down yesterday, September 23, the German Federal Court of Justice said that Lindt’s gold chocolate bear did not infringe Haribo’s trademark for its gummy bear sweets.
Haribo, which owns a trademark for the term ‘Goldbären’ (gold bears), claimed that Lindt’s chocolate bear would be associated with Haribo’s mark.
Lindt’s product, which it launched to tie in with its well-known chocolate bunnies, is wrapped in gold foil and wears a red ribbon.
Haribo, which has been making gummy bear sweets since the 1960s, said that the packaging could confuse shoppers because its bear is also gold and wears a red ribbon.
In 2012, the District Court of Cologne ruled against Lindt but two years later the Higher Regional Court of Cologne reversed the decision.
In yesterday’s ruling the federal court upheld the appeal court’s ruling.
The court said Lindt’s product was not a violation of Haribo’s word mark.
In a statement on its ruling the court said that the Lindt product could be described by using a number of terms including ‘teddy’ or ‘chocolate bear’ and not just the term ‘gold bear’, on which Haribo was relying.
The court added that, although Haribo also owned a figurative mark for its gold bear, the mark and the product were sufficiently dissimilar in character.
According to the court, the mark “which shows a bear standing figure, also lacks a sufficient resemblance to the [Lindt] characters wrapped in gold foil chocolate”.
Jens Matthes, a partner at Allen & Overy in Düsseldorf, said: “Maybe the court could have considered just how well known the Haribo mark is in Germany,” he told WIPR.
“When you say the words [‘gold bears’], I would definitely say that more than 50% of German consumers would know the product as being from Haribo. You also have to consider that Lindt has for a long time been producing a gold bunny and marketing it as the same.”
A spokesperson for Haribo said it “regretted” the verdict.
“In our opinion Lindt is using our brand awareness and our investment in the [Goldbären] brand in order to strengthen the perception of its own product among consumers.
“The brand name Goldbären is the property of Haribo—not only in Germany but also in numerous other countries throughout the world … and is a unique symbol with which generations of people have had positive associations for a number of decades.
“It is our duty—especially with regard to our consumers—to protect our traditional brand against any form of weakening.”
A spokesperson for Lindt said: “We welcome the final decision. Lindt will continue to delight all chocolate lovers with the Lindt Teddy, sold around 50 million times worldwide.”
