Mondelēz has filed high court papers in London in the Toblerone shape trademark dispute, accusing Catherine’s Originals of passing off and trademark infringement over the O’bar. The case puts the small vegan chocolate maker and its founder, Catherine Dodd, at the centre of a fight over whether a segmented chocolate bar crosses the line.
Dodd said the dispute was “fairly frightening for a small business” she founded in 2021. Catherine’s Originals makes its chocolate in Walberton in Sussex, England, and sells 200g bars through markets, online and by subscription, with prices starting at £9.20 and rising to £10.55 for flavours such as pumpkin spice and cinnamon swirl.
London filing over O’bar shape
The claim centres on the O’bar, described as a length of chocolate divided into segments, each with a rounded semi-oval hump. Mondelēz says the Toblerone shape is “one of the most recognised and distinctive product designs in the UK and across the world,” and says it has tried to resolve the matter directly with Catherine’s Originals over several months without reaching agreement.
Stephen Lowry, speaking for Catherine’s Originals, said: “Our client disagrees with the claim and considers O’bar to have its own distinctive design and identity.” Dodd added: “We stand firmly behind the product and identity we’ve created,” and said she and her team were working with their legal team to defend their position.
Mondelēz and prior disputes
Mondelēz said it has “a responsibility to protect our trademarks and intellectual property, which we take seriously.” The company also said the Toblerone shape has been a hallmark of the brand since 1929, a claim that now gives the court a historical benchmark for judging whether the O’bar shape goes far enough beyond a familiar design.
The dispute arrives after Mondelēz previously warned Poundland over its Twin Peaks bar in 2017, when the launch was delayed and later relaunched after changes to the packaging colour and the bar shape. Toblerone itself changed its packaging in 2023 to remove the image of the Matterhorn mountain peak after some production moved outside Switzerland.
Catherine Dodd and the claim
Dodd said the bar shape reflected an O for Originals, a defence aimed at separating Catherine’s Originals from Toblerone’s look. On the facts filed so far, the practical issue is whether the high court treats the rounded segmented form as a protected brand sign or as a shape that can exist independently when the design and identity are different.
For Catherine’s Originals, that answer now matters in a direct commercial way. The company sells premium 200g bars at prices well above a standard milk chocolate Toblerone, and the lawsuit will test whether its shape can remain part of that market identity while the legal process runs its course.
