EU court says Lindt bunnies can’t be trademarked
Swiss chocolate maker Lindt & Spruengli’s chocolate rabbits are devoid of any distinctive character and cannot be registered as a trade mark in the EU, the union’s top court said on Thursday.
The Luxembourg-based European Union Court of Justice (ECJ) upheld the decision of the EU trademarks agency OHIM, which rejected Lindt’s application for a trademark of its sitting bunny shapes wrapped in gold foil with a red ribbon bow tie.
The General Court, the EU’s second-highest court had already said in 2010 that the decision of OHIM was correct, leading to Lindt’s appeal before the ECJ.
“The Court confirms the reasoning of the General Court which found that Lindt had not proved that distinctive character had been acquired through use across the EU,” the ECJ said in a statement.
In March, an Austrian court ruled that family-owned rival Hauswirth could no longer produce Easter bunnies that look like those made by Lindt.
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