Confectionary giant Cadbury has admitted defeated in its battle to protect its trademark of the specific shade of the colour purple used on their distinctive wrappers.
The brand famous for chocolate bars such as Dairy Milk, Crunchie and Wispa have now given up the trade mark related to the colour known as Pantone 2865c.
Lawyers for the company said they have decided the trademark application is unenforceable after a court ruled it was too wide-ranging. The move will now make it harder for Cadbury to stop a rival from using a similar colour for its products.
Back In 2012, Cadbury won a case to stop other chocolate firms using the colour known as Pantone 2865c, however, Nestle challenged that, and in 2013 won an appeal.
Most recently the brand owned by American confectionary business Mondalez International was attempting to have the trademark split into two parts and remove the second half of the trademark concerning purple being the prime colour applied to the whole visible surface.
However, in a hearing at the Court of Appeal, they lost their battle following a complaint from competitor Nestle, leading to their latest decision to drop the trade mark that has been in place since 1995 after realising it was unenforceable.
A spokesperson for Mondalez International said: “We have not appealed but will continue to protect what we believe is a distinctive trademark.”
Experts believe that the firm is likely to try to enforce unregistered trademark rights which would protect them from having rivals use a similar look on products in a deliberate bid to confuse consumers.
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