EU judges advised to reject Nestlé appeal in defence of its EU trademark
Facing off with its US rival Mondelez, the court is advised to uphold a lower court ruling that recognition of KitKat is not enough to merit its 2006 trademark
Luxembourg — A legal adviser to the EU’s top court advised judges on Thursday to reject an appeal by Nestlé in defence of its EU trademark for its KitKat chocolate wafer biscuit. In the latest twist of a decade-long legal battle between the Swiss food giant and its US rival Mondelez, Advocate General Melchior Wathelet advised the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to uphold a lower court ruling which found that public recognition across Europe of the shape of the four-fingered bar was not enough to merit the KitKat trademark granted in 2006. Wathelet also called an appeal by Mondelez against a part of the lower general court’s findings to be "manifestly inadmissible" because the US firm’s overall complaint against the Nestlé trademark had been successful. ECJ justices generally follow such advice when giving their rulings several months later, although not always. A decision by the ECJ will be final. Dueling between the two companies has also seen Nestlé challenge Mondelez’s British tr...
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