Nestlé plant-based burger no longer 'incredible' in Europe

A European Union court has granted Impossible Foods a preliminary injunction, ordering Swiss food and beverage company Nestlé S.A. to stop using the product name “Incredible Burger”. The District Court of The Hague ruled that the use of Incredible Burger in Europe infringed upon Impossible Foods’ Impossible trademarks, including Impossible Burger, and was likely to confuse customers.

As a result, several Nestlé subsidiaries throughout Europe are prohibited from branding their product Incredible Burger. If the 10 separate Nestlé subsidiaries involved in the case do not remove the infringing branding from the European market within four weeks, they will be subject to a penalty of €25,000 (AU$40,578) per day — a company-wide penalty of up to €250,000 (AU$405,856) per subsidiary during the duration of the injunction.

“We’re grateful that the court recognised the importance of our trademarks and supported our efforts to protect our brand against incursion from a powerful multinational giant,” said Dana Wagner, Impossible Foods’ Chief Legal Officer.

In its ruling, the court endorsed the validity of the Impossible Burger trademark and noted the visual, phonetic and conceptual similarities between that trademark and Nestlé’s Incredible Burger branding, citing evidence that consumers and commentators were confused by the similarity in names.

Image credit: Impossible Foods