The European Court of Justice has ruled that the Bounty Bar cannot be given a special European trademark simply because of its shape.
The chocolate manufacturer Mars Inc had applied for a community trademark for the Bounty Bar arguing that its distinctive shape was recognised throughout the EU.
Mars claimed that because of its 'three dimensional' nature the Bounty Bar's shape could be granted trademark status.
The chocolate maker was granted the trademark following an application in April 2003 by the European office which controls trademarks, but later that year the German manufacturer Ludwig Schokolade challenged the decision claiming the Bounty Bar did not have any special characteristics.
In 2007 the Office of Harmonisation for the Internal Market withdrew the trademark agreeing that the coconut filled chocolate bar did not have a shape which departed from normal chocolate bar shapes.
Mars challenged the decision at the ECJ's Court of First Instance in Luxembourg and today lost the case.
The Court ruled that the bar's shape was not so distinct that it would be recognised as such by consumers across the EU.
In a statement the Court concluded: ‘In the present case, the allegedly distinctive characteristics, namely the rounded ends of the bar and the three arrows or chevrons on top of it, cannot be sufficiently distinguished from other shapes commonly used for chocolate bars’.
The Court also said that a survey carried out by Mars in six of the then 15 member states - United Kingdom, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands - did not necessarily mean the Bounty Bar's shape was regarded as a unique selling point throughout the EU.
