Mondelēz sues vegan chocolate maker

Mondelēz, the owner of Toblerone, has filed a lawsuit against Catherine’s Originals, a British vegan chocolate brand, over its O’bar product. The company claims that Catherine’s Originals has been copying the famous chunky shape of Toblerone.

The lawsuit, filed at the high court in London, accuses Catherine’s Originals of “passing off” and trademark infringement.

Catherine’s Originals was founded by Catherine Dodd in 2021 and sells its chocolate products via markets, online, or by subscription. Catherine Dodd said the shape of her bars reflects an “O” for Originals. “We stand firmly behind the product and identity we’ve created,” she said.

Dodd also stated that she strongly disagrees with the claim concerning O’bar and is working with her legal team to defend her position. The brand’s legal adviser, Stephen Lowry, added: “Our client disagrees with the claim and considers O’bar to have its own distinctive design and identity. We look forward to addressing the matter through the appropriate legal process.”

Mondelēz International, which also owns Cadbury and Côte D’Or chocolate brands, said that the iconic Toblerone shape is one of the most recognized and distinctive product designs in the UK and across the world. Mondelēz has a responsibility to protect its trademarks and intellectual property, which it takes seriously.

In a similar case, the budget chain Poundland was forced to delay the launch of its Twin Peaks bar in 2017 after a legal warning from Mondelēz. The bar eventually relaunched after Poundland modified the color of the packaging and the shape of the bar, and is still on sale today.

Toblerone itself was forced to change its packaging in 2023 to remove the image of the Matterhorn mountain peak. This change came after some of the chocolate bar’s production was moved outside Switzerland, falling foul of marketing restrictions relating to the use of Swiss iconography.