// Swiss federal court has ordered Lidl to destroy its chocolate bunnies after it lost a court battle with Lindt
// The court said the Lindt product was well known to the public and that the Lindt and Lidl products are likely to be confused
A Swiss court has ordered Lidl to destroy its gold chocolate bunnies and melt down all remaining stock, after it lost a court battle with Lindt.
The Swiss firm had argued its gold-wrapped Easter rabbit deserved copyright protection from a similar product sold by the budget supermarket and Switzerland’s highest court agreed, overturning a ruling last year by the country’s commercial court that had sided with Lidl.
The Swiss federal court said the Lindt product was well known to the public and that the Lindt and Lidl products are likely to be confused – Lindt’s bunny has a red bow and bell, while the only difference with Lidl’s was instead a green bow and bell.
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The court said the Lidl chocolate does not need to be thrown away – just melted down and turned into something else.
It’s not the first ‘copycat’ legal dispute to happen in recent months. At the start of the year, Aldi settled a legal battle with Marks & Spencer which said the German supermarket’s Cuthbert caterpillar cake was too similar to its own Colin the Caterpillar cake.
Lindt nor Lidl have yet to make a statement about the ruling.
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