A Swiss court has ordered Lidl to stop selling its gold-foil wrapped chocolate rabbits and melt down all remaining stock, because they are too similar to those made by Lindt & Sprüngli, reports The Guardian. Switzerland’s highest court said the Lindt product should be protected from duplicates.
Fortunately for UK shoppers Lidl says the ruling only applies in Switzerland, not the UK.
The Lindt chocolate rabbit is one of the Swiss company's biggest selling lines. 10million are sold every year. 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.
The court said the Lidl chocolate does not need to be thrown away - just melted down and turned into something else. Lindt has been to court multiple times to protect its rabbits. It applied for a trademark on the treat which was granted in 2001.
That has been upheld in court more than once.
In February this year, Aldi settled a legal battle with Marks & Spencer which said the German supermarket's Cuthbert caterpillar cake was too similar to its own.
Neither Lindt nor Lidl have yet made a statement about the ruling.
