IFFCO appeals Kit Kat ruling in South Africa
The United Arab Emirates-headquartered company is hoping to overturn an earlier ruling from the Supreme Court that prevented IFFCO from selling its Tiffany Break bar because it was allegedly in breach of Nestlé Kit Kat trademark.
A Nestlé spokesperson said the firm was aware the matter had been referred to the Constitutional Court but refused to comment on an ongoing case. IFFCO was contacted but did not respond to our messages.
In November last year, South Africa’s Supreme Court overturned an earlier decision and said that IFFCO’s Tiffany Break brand contravened Nestlé’s trademarks on the 2-finger and 4-finger wafer shape.
Kit Kat spats
The ruling came in the same week the Swiss giant lost the Kit Kat shape trademark in Singapore in a case against Singaporean group Petra Foods.
IFFCO’s South African subsidiary was established in 2010. The UAE firm sells chocolate products under the Break brand in the country including Quanta Break and Tiffany Break in retailers such as Shoprite-Checkers.
In July 2013, the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) rejected Nestlé’s application to trademark the four-finger Kit-Kat shape after opposition from Mondelez International-owned Cadbury. That case has been referred to the European Court of Justice on points of law and a decision is due this year.
