Today I look at the ongoing legal battle between Kraft and Bega over the right to use the iconic ‘yellow jar’ for peanut butter.
Key Points
- Trade Marks and Branding: Does your packaging form an ‘iconic’ part of your brand? Is it protected? Does it need to be?
- Sale or Purchase of a Business: Does your purchase include IP and goodwill? Have you identified all the different IP to be assigned to the new owner?
- Company Structure: Do you want a holding company to hold valuable assets? Does goodwill comprise part of that asset? How can you transfer an unregistered right?
- Branding and Labels: Is every claim made on your packaging correct and not misleading or deceptive?
Background
Picture it, Australia, 2012. Kraft is happily running a peanut butter business that it sells its products in an iconic yellow lidded jar. (In the business, this is known as ‘get up’ or ‘trade dress’.)
