Kit Kat makers have been fighting to trademark the chocolate bar for over a decade but in a final ruling Wednesday the European Court of Justice said Nestle cannot own the four-fingered wafer shape, BBC noted.
The dispute can be traced back to 2002, when the chocolate manufacturer applied for a trademark in Europe for Kit Kat as well as the candy bar's shape, which was granted after four years.
In 2007 Cadbury Schweppes contested this and Mondelēz later picked up the case after its predecessor, Kraft, purchased Cadbury, The Guardian said.
This launched an 11-year court battle that saw appeal after appeal bounce back and forth until the case was thrown out Wednesday.
At the core of the matter is whether the shape of a Kit Kat is distinctive enough that people could identify the snack based on this alone.
However, the European Court of Justice declared there is not enough evidence to believe the product is viewed as iconic in Europe based on its shape alone, BBC reported.
John Coldham, partner at the U.K. law firm Gowling WLG said that the ruling may not be the end of the road for Nestle, explaining that the global chocolate giant could re-apply for a trademark and put forth stronger evidence.
"No one is saying it is impossible to get a trade mark for the Kit Kat shape - just that there needs to be evidence that the shape is distinctive of Kit Kat in every part of the EU," he said, according to BBC News.
It's not the first time Cadbury and Nestle have tussled over confectionery in a British court. In 2013, Nestle won a battle over Cadbury's attempt to register the purple shade of Dairy Milk chocolate wrappers as a trademark.
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