Trademark Case Law - Kit-Kat v. Take-It

Chocolate companies Petra and Delfi were accused of infringing the shape trademarks and copyrights of Nestle.
Nestle won its case in South Africa but lost in Singapore.

Intellectual Property Rights and Competition. These cases provide a good theoretical space to discuss balance between these two important principles of commerce. But what seems easy to determine in theory can be quite tricky in the real world. Many future cases will rise and fall from these decisions. Businesses have been warned. 

"The loss of the unique shape of Nestlé's Kit Kat bar as a distinctive attribute will inevitably result in a loss of advertising or selling power to Nestlé. This will clearly result in "blurring" of Nestlé's finger wafer shape trade mark. In addition, because Nestlé and Iffco are direct competitors, increased sales of Iffco‟s Break chocolate bars will be at the expense of Nestlé's Kit Kat chocolate bar. Economic harm to Nestlé is consequently self-evident from the primary facts." 

- K G B SWAIN of the Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa

Read the South Africa Supreme Court case of Société des Produits Nestlé SA v International Foodstuffs 100/14) [2014] ZASCA 187 (27 November 2014).

Nestle's four wafer shape trademark.

 "Imitation is no less a valid business strategy than innovation. There is nothing unconscionable about competition. Even if the defendants did copy, it is not wrong unless such copying impinges the plaintiffs legal rights,"    

- Justice Chan Seng Onn, Supreme Court of Singapore 

Read the Singapore Supreme Court Case of Societe Des Produits Nestlé SA and another v Petra Foods Ltd and another [2014] SGHC 252.