Claims extracted
19
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
21%
4 of 19 hedged
("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
66/100
The Straits Times's corrections and
hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
3
Other
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Toblerone maker sues UK start-up over lookalike bar for vegans
AI generated
LONDON – Mondelez International is heading to the UK courts once again – over the triangular prism shape of its Toblerone chocolate bar.
Less than a decade after the US confectionery company won a trademark row with Poundland over the discount retailer’s Twin Peaks chocolate bar, Mondelez’s latest fight is with a small British vegan chocolatier.
asserted
fight → sue → chocolatier
Catherine’s Originals’ range of O’bar chocolates, which feature a row of rounded peaks on a thin slab, are too similar in shape to Toblerone’s triangles, according to a UK intellectual property infringement claim filed on Oct 15 by Kraft Foods Schweiz Holding, a company that is part of Mondelez.
uncertain
that → feature → Mondelez
“The iconic Toblerone shape is one of the most recognised and distinctive product designs in the UK and across the world,” a spokesperson for Mondelez said.
asserted
spokesperson → say → Mondelez
“We have a responsibility to protect our trademarks and intellectual property, which we take seriously.”
asserted
we → have → which
Kraft Foods bought Toblerone in 1990 and successfully trademarked the shape of the chocolate bar in Europe that decade.
asserted
Foods → buy → Europe
Mondelez was created in the split of Kraft Foods in 2012.
asserted
Mondelez → create → 2012
Catherine Dodd, who was 18 when she launched her vegan brand in 2021, disagrees with Mondelez’s claims: the peaks on her chocolate bars are more rounded than those of Toblerone and are in line with the O theme used in other products like Catherine’s O tin and Milky O’s.
“Honestly, it’s fairly frightening for a small business we’ve put so much care and hard work into building,” Dodd wrote in an e-mailed statement.
uncertain
Dodd → launch → statement
“But being a smaller business does not mean being afraid to stand up for what we’ve created.”
asserted
we → mean → what
It is not unusual for consumer companies to sue rivals over similar versions of distinctive products.
asserted
companies → sue → products
Nestle famously defeated Mondelez’s efforts to trademark the purple color used in the packaging of its Cadbury Dairy Milk bars.
asserted
Nestle → defeat → bars
In turn, Mondelez blocked Nestle’s efforts to trademark the shape of its four-finger KitKat wafer.
asserted
Mondelez → block → wafer
Mondelez settled its claim against Poundland in 2017 before a full trial began.
uncertain
trial → settle → 2017
The two agreed that the budget retailer could release a limited number of its Twin Peaks bars as long as it changed the colour of its packaging and turned the mountains into asymmetrical hills.
uncertain
it → agree → hills
Years later, Mondelez challenged Swiss-based company Cocoa Luxury over its Swissone bar.
asserted
Mondelez → challenge → bar
A local court in Switzerland initially ruled there was no likelihood of consumers being confused as the peaks on the smaller company’s bar were more rounded than Toblerone’s.
asserted
peaks → rule → Toblerone
The two parties later reached a confidential agreement that meant Swissone changed its shape and packaging, a Mondelez spokesperson wrote.
asserted
spokesperson → reach → shape
Mondelez said several months of talks to find a resolution with Catherine’s, which makes its chocolate at a factory in West Sussex, have failed to yield results.
asserted
which → say → results
Previously Mondelez had to remove the Matterhorn peak from its packaging and change its label from “of Switzerland” to “established in Switzerland” after it moved some production to Slovakia.
asserted
it → have → Slovakia
Shares of Mondelez, which reports earnings later on Oct 30, are up more than 7% in the past 12 months.
asserted
which → report → months
The Aporia
