Lindt and Its Red-Ribbon Bunnies Score a Win in Court

You likely know Lindt's Easter bunny—the gold foil-wrapped chocolate with a signature red ribbon and small bell around its neck. That easy recognition ended up being bad news for a competing product. Switzerland's highest court on Thursday ruled that Germany's Lidl must stop selling a similar-looking bunny in Switzerland (see a side-by-side comparison photo here). Lindt had provided the court with surveys that showed consumers recognized its bunny; as such, the court said the two chocolates, while not identical, were still likely to get mistaken for one another.

As for Lidl's current stockpile of bunnies, they must be destroyed, though the court noted, "Destruction is proportionate, especially as it does not necessarily mean that the chocolate as such would have to be destroyed." For instance, it could be melted down and somehow reused, the Guardian notes. Reuters reports that this is far from the first time Lindt has gone to court in the hopes of safeguarding its bunny. In 2021 it scored another win in Germany, where the gold hue of the wrapped bunny was awarded trademark protection. (More chocolate stories.)