Haribo Lost The Legal Battle On
The German Federal Supreme Court, Court of last instance in the ordinary justice system in Germany, has established, upholding the judgment of appeal, that the chocolate bears-shaped product marketed by Lindt do not constitute infringements of gummy candies, also bear-shaped, produced by Haribo. The subject of the dispute, which began in 2012 is the chocolate bear-shaped “Lindt Teddy” marketed by Lindt, which according to Haribo, was too similar to the famous gummy bears produced by the latter, and therefore able to determine confusion among consumers. The first judjement was in favor of Haribo, while on appeal the Court has found that the similarities between the two products were not likely able to confuse consumers. This assessment has been confirmed by the German Federal Court, which has dismissed the appeal of Haribo.