Stuttgart – Square, practical – banned soon? Chocolate giant Ritter Sport is taking its smaller competitor to court as it also offers square bars.
A regional trial is scheduled for Tuesday Stuttgart decide whether the “Monnemer Quadrat Bio” cocoa-oat bar from the Mannheim Wacker company threatens the Ritter Sport box, which has been trademark protected since 1996 – in other words: it looks too much like the box. According to the court, Ritter Sport demanded, among other things, that Wacker stop using previously used packaging and recall goods it had already shipped.
Very similar? Ritter Sport also offers boards in brown packaging
Brown dwarf versus brown giant
Wacker’s small company (about 30 employees) brought the product to market about a year ago. The packaging for the square oat bar is reportedly inspired by the city center of Mannheim which is arranged in a square shape. But – at least says chocolate giant Ritter Sport (about 1,800 employees) – it’s also reminiscent of the square-shaped Ritter Sport bar, although it’s smaller than the classic 100-gram version and the side straps are longer.
Oat bars versus chocolate
Even though the product from Mannheim is an oat bar, Ritter Sport is worried that there will be a clash of brands. The packaging shape is one of the brand’s best known in Germany and was a key feature of Ritter Sport’s introduction, a spokesperson said. On Chocolate and muesli bars are similar foods eaten by the same target group on the same occasions. Apart from packaging, the use of the word “square” in the product name is also problematic.
Wacker denied the accusations. Lawyer Tamara Moll said that oat bars are fundamentally different from classic chocolate bars. Ritter Sport has acted in previous cases, for example in one case Legal dispute with Milka enforced.
