The story so far
Cadbury have a UK trade mark registration for their colour purple which has the following description:
“The mark consists of the colour purple (Pantone 2685C) as shown on the form of application, applied to the whole visible surface, or being the predominant colour applied to the whole visible surface, of the packaging of the goods.”
They subsequently filed another UK trade mark application for the same mark, which Nestlé opposed. The opposition ultimately succeeded because the Court of Appeal felt that the description didn’t adequately define the mark. This was primarily because the wording “being the predominant colour applied to the whole visible surface” is too broad.
Cadbury presumably realised that this meant their existing UK registration was potentially invalidly registered, so they came up with quite a creative way to try and get round this. They claimed that the existing UK registration was actually for a series of two different marks: 1) the colour purple (Pantone 2685C) applied to the whole visible surface of the packaging of the goods, and 2) the colour purple (Pantone 2685C) being the predominant colour applied to the whole visible surface of the packaging of the goods. If this argument was accepted, it would allow them to delete the problematic second mark.
The Court of Appeal has previously held that the wording “The mark consists of the colour purple (Pantone 2685C)… being the predominant colour applied to the whole visible surface, of the packaging of the goods” potentially opens the door to a multitude of different visual forms. Therefore, if the Court had accepted Cadbury’s argument that their UK registration is for a series of marks, Cadbury would arguably have a registration for a series containing an unknown number of different marks, consisting of the varying different forms. Unsurprisingly, this is something that the Court of Appeal was keen to prevent.
This decision, although seemingly about an administrative point, is a significant blow to Cadbury, as it means the wording “being the predominant colour applied to the whole visible surface”, previously considered too broad by the Court of Appeal, has to remain in their registration.
What next for Cadbury?
Their current trade mark is open to attack by Nestlé and other third parties for being invalidly registered as the Court of Appeal previously considered the description of the mark too broad. This could make their UK registration very difficult to enforce. Cadbury could still try to rely on any unregistered trade mark rights or “goodwill” they may have acquired through use of their colour in the UK, but enforcing these rights would be more onerous than relying on a valid trade mark registration.