Court Orders Grocery Store to 'Destroy' Chocolate Bunny Supply Chocolatier Lindt & Sprungli has won a trademark battle with Lidl grocery stores.
By Emily Rella Edited by Jessica Thomas
Opinions expressed by BIZ Experiences contributors are their own.
One of the best parts of the Easter season is devouring the sweet treats that have become synonymous with the holiday, especially giant chocolate bunnies.
But due to a new dramatic court ruling, customers looking to get their hands on the chocolate bunnies from Lidl grocery stores will no longer be able to.
A Swiss federal court ruled this week that the chocolate bunnies sold at the European grocery chain's stores in Switzerland violated a trademark agreement with Lindt chocolatiers and ordered that Lidl's remaining bunnies be destroyed immediately.
Lindt filed the lawsuit in 2018, claiming that Lidl copied its signature chocolate bunny in both shape and packaging, making it difficult for customers to differentiate between the two products. Lindt originally earned the trademark for the candy in 2000 through a European court.
It's estimated that Lindt produces 160 million gold-wrapped chocolate bunnies per year.
"If you line up every Lindt GOLD BUNNY sold in a year, they would result in a distance of roughly 9.800km – that's more than the distance from our headquarters in Kilchberg, Switzerland, to San Diego, California," Lindt has said of the bunny's production.
The first Lindt bunny was made in 1952 and combines flavors of milk, dark, white and hazelnut chocolate.
