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Backing Lindt, Swiss Court Orders Lidl to ‘Destroy’ Its Chocolate Bunnies


Two chocolate bunnies go head-to-head and it seems that only one can survive.

In one corner is a chocolate bunny wrapped in gold foil and made by German discount retailer Lidl. In the other corner is the chocolate bunny, also wrapped in gold foil, but made by respected Swiss chocolate makers Lindt and Sprüngli.

After a years-long legal battle, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court sided with Lindt and found that Lidl’s chocolate bunnies could be confused with Lindt’s chocolate bunnies. , which is protected under Swiss trademark law.

As a result, the court ruled that Lidl could no longer sell her bunnies in Switzerland and “must destroy” the chocolate bunnies she still had in stock, according to the court. statement from the court.

Credit…Christoph Gasser

The ruling is a victory for Lindt’s confectioners in a country known internationally for premium chocolate. It raised questions about whether Lidl’s forbidden rabbits could be melted down and formed into less repulsive shapes.

The court statement appeared to suggest that the rabbits could be melted down and reused, saying that while Lidl must destroy its rabbits, “this does not necessarily mean that chocolate is like so it must be destroyed.”

Lidl said in a statement that no rabbits will be thrown away.

“The chocolate bunny in question is a seasonal item, which is why we currently have no stock in Switzerland that needs to be destroyed,” Lidl’s statement said.

Christoph Gasser, Lidl’s attorney, said that the Supreme Court had returned the case to a lower court for further review, specifically to assess whether Lindt could be awarded monetary compensation.

In essence, it appears that the Swiss Federal Supreme Court has adopted a results-oriented approach in its legal reasoning, attempting to defend Lindt’s Easter bunny, despite some other significantly different from previous case law,” he wrote in an email. “Although we accept the decision of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court, we feel that it violated Swiss intellectual property law.”

Lindt praised the ruling, saying it would defend its “Gold Bunny,” which it has been doing since 1952.

“The federal court ruling is of great importance for the protection of Lindt Gold Bunny in the Swiss market,” the company said in a statement. “It will help further protect the iconic Lindt Gold Bunny form against dilution from unauthorized copies and will likely set precedent in other jurisdictions.”

Jonathan Drucker, a former consultant to Belgian chocolate maker Godiva, who called Lindt “an 800-pound gorilla in the Lindt chocolate industry is not a surprise.”

At Godiva, he says, “we’ve always been aware of what their chocolate bunnies look like and what safeguards they have.”

“Lindt is very, very aggressive in trying to prevent other competitors from citing infringing on their brands and products, and they have been very, very particular about their Easter bunny, which they claim has strict protection for,” he said.

Lindt calls her chocolate bunnies “one of the most famous Lindt chocolate products” and an “iconic Easter fixture.”

“Today, more than 160 million Lindt Gold Bunnies are dancing around the world each year,” the company said on its website its websiteadded that if all the Lindt chocolate bunnies sold annually were lined up, they would stretch from the company’s headquarters in Kilchberg, Switzerland, to San Diego, California.

Mr Gasser said the war on bunnies started in 2017, when Lindt first went to court to stop Lidl from selling chocolate bunnies wrapped in gold foil (or any other colored foil).

The Lidl Rabbit, like the Lindt Rabbit, is a compact rabbit that squats on all fours. But the markings on its face and paws are different from those on Lindt, according to photos provided by Mr. Gasser. The photos show that the Lindt bunny also has a red ribbon and bell while the Lidl bunny has a yellow or green ribbon and bell.

To determine whether Lidl violated Lindt’s trademark rights with his chocolate bunnies, the Supreme Court looked at whether those shapes were protected under trademark law. Such was the case when the brands were already established in the market, the court statement said.

Based on the results of a poll submitted by Lindt, the court found that Lindt’s chocolate bunnies were very popular in Switzerland and therefore had a good name in the market.

The court also considered whether there was a possibility of confusion because of the similarity between the two rabbits. It concludes that such a risk exists, even though the products have certain differences.

“According to the overall impression, Lidl’s rabbit has a clear connection with the appearance of Lindt rabbit,” the court statement said. “In the minds of the public, they are indistinguishable.”

Mr. Gasser pointed out that the ruling will not stop Lidl from making chocolate bunnies. He says the look and feel of its chocolate bunnies changes “almost every year” and he understands that Lidl will be making bunnies again next Easter.

“Everything else depends on internal reflection,” he writes.

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