Chocomel secures trademark protection for yellow in Benelux
FrieslandCampina can keep out competitors that use a strongly similar yellow colour for chocolate drinks.
FrieslandCampina has successfully invoked trademark protection in the Benelux for Chocomel’s distinctive yellow colour. The issue arose from an application by Spain’s Grupo Cacaolat for a logo with a similar yellow background.
The Benelux Office for Intellectual Property ruled that FrieslandCampina could oppose Cacaolat’s application. The dispute was not about the word Cacaolat, but about the use of a specific yellow colour for chocolate drinks.
Colour trademarks are exceptional. A colour can receive protection only if consumers strongly associate it with a single brand in a particular market. According to trademark lawyers, FrieslandCampina argued that Chocomel had consistently used the yellow for a long time on packaging and in advertising.
The ruling does not mean that FrieslandCampina can ban every use of yellow in shops or in other product categories. The protection applies to the registered colour trademark and to use in the relevant context, such as chocolate milk and similar cocoa drinks.
The case arose when Grupo Cacaolat wanted to introduce its product more widely in the Benelux. FrieslandCampina objected to the applied-for figurative mark. The trademark office upheld the objection insofar as use of the specific colour could lead to confusion with Chocomel.
For FrieslandCampina, the ruling is commercially relevant because packaging colour is a point of recognition on a shelf containing many competing drinks. For competitors, the decision means that packaging must be assessed not only by name and logo, but also by colour use and the overall impression.
The protection fits within a small group of well-known colour trademarks. Examples often cited in trademark practice include Milka’s lilac, Nivea’s blue and UPS’s brown. Such examples do not automatically mean that every colour trademark has the same scope.
The ruling concerns trademark law, not the question of which chocolate drink consumers prefer. Legal steps may also still be taken against a decision by the Benelux office, depending on the possibilities for appeal and the precise registration.
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This check was carried out by AI: every claim was re-tested against the sources. Even an approved article can contain errors — stay critical.
The factual core has been confirmed by two specialised sources and an independent retail publication. The text describes the legal scope cautiously and makes no statement about the outcome of any possible appeal.
- confirmed FrieslandCampina successfully opposed a yellow figurative mark by Cacaolat in the Benelux. — Confirmed by Chiever and RetailDetail. source
- confirmed The dispute concerned a specific yellow colour for chocolate drinks. — Description of the opposition procedure by Chiever and Knijff. source
- confirmed Colour trademarks are exceptional and require strong brand recognition. — Explained by the trademark lawyers’ source. source
Editor's note
The decision, the parties involved and the subject of the dispute are confirmed by multiple trademark and retail sources. The exact legal scope and any possibilities for appeal are not fully set out in the publicly available summaries.Sources
- Exclusive rights to Chocomel yellow — Chiever Trademark Attorneys
- Chocomel heeft monopolie op geel in de Benelux — RetailDetail
- En het was allemaal geel – FrieslandCampina roept met succes haar gele kleurmerk in — Knijff Trademark Attorneys
More on this in Dutch media
- NOS — „chocomel frieslandcampina”
- Het Parool — „chocomel frieslandcampina”
- de Volkskrant — „chocomel frieslandcampina”