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IF YOU FANCIED trying to sell some chocolate in the United Kingdom using this particular shade of purple, think again.
The High Court in London has rejected an appeal by Nestlé trying to stop Cadbury from reserving the colour as a corporate trademark when it comes to advertising its chocolate bars and drinks.
DesignWeek.co.uk summarises that Cadbury had won a trademark ruling last December, but Nestlé had appealed the ruling – perhaps mindful of its own range of chocolate products, including Quality Street, which use purple packaging.
The High Court said, however, that Cadbury had used the colouring distinctively for almost a century – and that it could keep the trademark reserving the colour for itself.
The London Independent quoted Judge Colin Burss as ruling: “The evidence clearly supports a finding that purple is distinctive of Cadbury for milk chocolate.”
The trademark applies only to chocolate bars and drinks, meaning the particular tint – Pantone 2685C – can be used in the sale of other products.
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Does this mean that Coca Cola have the rights to red….the same red that Santa uses? Do Coca Cola now own Christmas?? The end of the world is near!
Coca Cola is responsible for giving santa red! Santa always wore green until Coke marketed their drink with images of santa wearing red which stuck!
It was coca cola who made his suit red, before that it was green.
People love this story that Coca-Cola reupholstered Santa Claus in their own image – but I’ve never seen any evidence for it – so I did a bit of searching. Here’s a whole page of advertisements made by White Rock in the 1920s that depict Nick in the red threads that we have become accustomed to: http://www.whiterocking.org/santa.html#article. And here are some 1900s Christmas Covers of Puck Magazine, again, in the familiar get-up. : http://www.ancientfaces.com/research/photo/420640/santa-claus-1902-puck-magazine-family-photo
SC didn’t appear in Coca-Cola ads until the ’30s, so it appears as if if it’s just an urban myth.
Damn internet.
Father Christmas wore red, St. Nikolas wore green, and they were two different entities. St. Nick’s Holiday is 6th December. Over time they got shoved into one entity. I’m not sure, but Coke’s Santa looks more like a fatter St. Nick, with the green changed to red. We used to leave a boot out on the 6th, rather than a sock on the 24th.
Looks like Kermit the Frog & the Incredible Hulk have a lot of negotiating to do too!
Coke gave Santa the red nosed and belly of a beer lover.
blasphemy
looks like Santa enjoyed himself way back when he didn’t have to hide eh..
What if someone used a marginally different tone of purple?
Then it’s fine. It’s like aldi selling head and arms in a bottle that looks very like head and shoulders
Is that the real name of it?? Head and arms!! Hahaha!!
The trademark shouldn’t apply in that case, though I’m sure there’s a legal grey area where it could be argued that similar hues are attempting to rip off the trademarked one.
I’m sorry but which of the shades of grey are you referring to, I may need to send you a solicitors letter. It’s black and white to me.
I heard Aldi are bringing out a new version of Head and Shoulders for bald people. ‘And Shoulders,’- in store soon!
Century’s is so tasty! But patenting a colour… bit odd
Century’s indeed. It’s not patented its trademarked.
It’s trademarked, not patented. And it’s nothing new. Heinz, John Deere and Orange all have trademarked colours.
It is their colour sure,what’s the first thing you think of when you see it!?!Great marketing and delicious products!
Dyno rod are the same. Look at the small print on the back of their vans.
No odder than Apple and Intel trying to trademark the letter ‘i’.
There goes my chocolate selling plans for Britain…….agggggh screw you Cadburys !!!
Before anyone else gets involved…I lay claim to the rest of the rainbow. Anyone using any colour now has to pay me!!! Ok ?
@Damian O’Keeffe. I type on a smart phone – don’t use predictive text – and if it’s a long message it’s quite difficult to move the text round to check typos and the cursor’s a bit skittish. So, yes it’s probably six of one and half a dozen of the other.
Does that include Edible Undies? will have too stock up, I’m not buying brown ones again.
My girlfriend recently had all her body hair dyed purple…..I am currently going through a purple patch.
Cadburys were banned from selling their ‘chocolate’ in Europe for years as it contains vegetable fat and milk, not cocoa butter like most quality chocolate. Stick with the Belgian or German stuff if you want real chocolate.
Cadbury is just as nice as any European chocolate Damien plus it keeps 750 Irish people in jobs so do your bit for their livelihood.
Ha ha, the freking world has los its head. We can’t use certain colors to sell chocolate anymore. Whatever next.
It’s crazy, next someone will patent a rectangle with rounded edges….
St Nicholas and Santa Claus were conflated into one because it was the custom to give gifts at Christmas symbolising the gifts of the Three Wise Men. Saint Nicholas used to go round Smyrna at Christmas leaving gifts at people’s houses. Gradually the name evolved into the familiar Santa Claus of today and the gift giving became more secularised (too commercialised, sone would say). But the originof the gift-givinvg is rooted in Christian tradition.
I was explaining that to a friend recently, that Pantone named all their millions if colours in their catalogue allowing companies to trademark/own a colour. But the thing is you can still use a purple colour so similar to Cadburys most can’t tell the difference.
All because the lady loves…. Purple
So if tooth paste comes in that colour, it could be Cadbury’s ? mmmmm
I have no problem doing my bit to keep the 750 workers in Cadbury’s in their jobs. They render this country some service!
* giving. Keyboard blues!
Mary, don’t take this the wrong way now….do you have typing issues or is it a poof reading thing…..;-)
It’s not actually “chocolate”, it’s a cheap fake chocolate called Milk Chocolate made mostly of milk. Real chocolate has far more cocoa. Like a lot of things the bulk of people are buying a fake.
I don’t care what it’s called by others – it’s what I grew up with and will always be chocolate to me!!!
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