Startup Swissone wins in court against Toblerone
Chocolate startup Swissone wins its trademark dispute against Toblerone before the higher court of the canton of Bern. This writes the Handelszeitung in its current issue.
The court case came about because Toblerone parent company Mondelez/Kraft accused the young Swiss brand Swissone of likelihood of confusion and exploitation of its reputation.
The request was rejected by the court, which pleases Swissone founder and CEO Vernon Stuber. "Now we can go full throttle without a multi being able to ban us from entering the market." Now the first foreign inquiries are being examined, Stuber told the Handelszeitung, "a project in China sounds the most promising; we are currently working on that."
On the part of Toblerone parent company Mondelez/Kraft, the defeat in court is commented as follows: "Despite the disappointing outcome of the injunction proceedings, the courts recognize the strength and good reputation of our Toblerone brand and in particular the Toblerone shape. We disagree with the court's assessment of likelihood of confusion and so-called reputation exploitation." The company reserves the right to take further legal action.
