Because they look too similar to Lindt’s “Gold Bunny”, the Munich Higher Regional Court has banned the Allgäu Confiserie Heilemann from selling chocolate bunnies with golden packaging. The 29th civil senate found on Thursday that there was a risk of confusion between the products. The verdict is not yet legally binding.
The decisive question was whether the gold tone of the bunnies was similar enough on the one hand – and whether it was used as a brand and sent a decisive signal to the consumer as to which manufacturer the bunnies came from. The court approved both. In the opinion of the Senate, certain differences in color and design as well as the inscription with the name of the manufacturer were not sufficient to prevent this.
If the offense is repeated, the Allgäu Confiserie Heilemann, which belongs to Thuringia’s Viba sweets, is now threatened with a fine of 250,000 euros. In addition, the company must provide information about its business with the gold-wrapped rabbit and pay compensation.
This was preceded by a decision by the Federal Court of Justice, according to which the gold tone used by Lindt enjoys trademark protection. The color is attributed to the Swiss chocolatier by 70 percent of consumers. Due to its long and intensive use on the market, it has established itself as a trademark and “gained public recognition”, the BGH found. The Karlsruhe judges had thus contradicted an earlier decision of the Higher Regional Court, in which Lindt was unsuccessful. Therefore, the Higher Regional Court had to deal with the issue again.
Not all rabbits affected
However, Heilemann achieved a partial success: Since two Lindt companies had sued – one from Switzerland and one from Germany – the court saw the rights to the gold tone only with the German company, and rejected one of the two lawsuits. The costs of the legal dispute are therefore shared.
Lindt has been selling the “Goldhasen” in Germany since 1952, and in the current color since 1997. Heilemann also offered a sitting rabbit in gold foil in the 2018 Easter season.
According to Lindt, it now produces around 150 million “Golden Bunnies” every year in over 50 countries. The chocolatier has been fighting against similar competing products for years. The golden chocolate bunnies from the Franconian chocolate producer Riegelein were allowed to stay after two BGH rulings. Four weeks ago, the Swiss Federal Court in Lausanne ruled that the discounter Lidl was no longer allowed to sell its gold bunnies in Switzerland because of the risk of confusion with Lindt’s gold bunnies.
