British High Court rejects Nestle’s appeal to trademark KitKat shape

Nestle has been denied its appeal to trademark the four-fingered shape of KitKat in the UK by the British High Court.

The British High Court ruling can make it easier for Nestle’s rivals to launch products that look similar to KitKat, reported The Guardian.

Nestle was quoted by The Guardian saying: "KitKat is much loved and the iconic shape of the four-finger bar, which has been used in the UK for more than 80 years, is well known by consumers.

"We believe that the shape deserves to be protected as a trademark in the UK and are disappointed that the court did not agree on this occasion."

Nestle is planning to appeal against the decision.

The company initially attempted to trademark KitKat’s shape in 2010. However, the attempts were opposed by Cadbury as Nestle blocked Cadbury’s attempts to trademark the purple colour used in the packaging of its Dairy Milk product.

The European Court of Justice ruled that the shape of KitKat was not distinctive enough to seek a trademark, reported The Guardian.

In his ruling, British High Court judge Richard Arnold stated Nestle had not promoted KitKat’s shape as one of its selling propositions and distributed it in an opaque packaging cover that concealed the KitKat design effectively, reported The Guardian.

Arnold was quoted by TIME saying: "In these circumstances, it seems likely that consumers rely only on the word mark KitKat and the other word and the pictorial marks used in relation to the goods in order to identify the trade origin of the products.

"They associate the shape with KitKat (and therefore with Nestlé), but no more than that."