A federal court in Lausanne, Switzerland, has ordered Lidl to stop making chocolate bunnies and melt its remaining stock after determining they are too close in design to an iconic Lindt treat.
Overturning a decision made last year by a commercial court, the country’s highest court ruled that chocolate maker Lindt & Sprüngli deserved copyright protection for its gold foil wrapped bunnies.
The bunnies are amongst the chocolate maker’s most popular products. Lindt says on its website that it produces 150 million golden, red-ribbon rabbits every year and these are sold in 50 countries. Because of this demand, the chocolate maker argued that the bunnies’ shape, wrapping, red ribbon and gold bell are distinctive. The Independent reports: “Surveys submitted by Lindt showed its Easter bunny was well known to the public…adding that the two products were likely to be confused even though there were some differences between them.”
Lindt & Sprüngli has gone into battle many times over its bunnies. In 2000, it applied for a trademark on the three-dimensional shape of the bunny and was granted this a year later. It also had a long-running legal dispute with rival chocolate maker Hauswirth, which was won in 2011. In 2021, it fought to get the exact gold of the bunnies’ foil trademarked.
Lidl will now discontinue its chocolate bunnies in stores in Switzerland but they will be sold in Lidl supermarkets elsewhere.
