Toblerone diluted its trade mark when it released a savings-driven redesign of its chocolate bar last year, retail chain Poundland is set to argue in the UK courts.
Poundland announced in June that it was releasing its own similarly mountain-inspired chocolate bar called Twin Peaks, but halted the product's release following the receipt of a legal letter from Mondelez International, the makers of Toblerone.
At the time, the British chain did not deny the influence of Mondelez' famous product ? whose shape is protected by a registered UK 3D trade mark ? but rather positioned it as a response to a redesign that had not been well received by the store's customers.
Poundland's Twin Peaks chocolate bar was expected to hit stores in early July. Image courtesy of PA Images The dispute between Poundland and Mondelez has now escalated to the High Court of Justice, according to the Guardian, which has seen the legal documents from both parties.
In Poundland's defence, the company argues that Toblerone's trade mark has been "irretrievably abandoned" by its redesign, which damaged the bar's reputation.
The new-look Toblerone, which hit UK shelves in November last year, saw the gaps between the bar's signature peaks widened. It was dubbed "wrong" and "austerity Toblerone" by tetchy social media users.

UK... What have you done""" #Brexit #Toblerone pic.twitter.com/BmrrJWD8sf
? Enda Conway (@EndaConway) November 8, 2016

Toblerone's redesig...