USA: Legal dispute over Nestlé smarties
The U.S. candy manufacturer Ce De Candy accuses the online retailer Amazon of unlawfully importing Nestlé Smarties into the United States.
The USA is a forbidden zone for Smarties. In the States, it is not the Vaud-based food multinational Nestlé that holds the rights to the brand name, but the family business Ce De Candy. And its Smarties are sweets. "We want them to stop selling them online," Ce De Candy lawyer Amy Goldsmith told the financial news agency Bloomberg on Tuesday, according to SDA. Ce De Candy filed a lawsuit in federal court in Newark near New York. The company accuses Amazon not only of infringing trademark law, but also of unfair competition and misleading advertising. Amazon did not wish to comment on the allegations.
There had already been trouble over Nestlé Smarties on American soil at the end of 2008. At that time, Amazon removed the product from its range. "We want them to keep their word," demanded Goldsmith.
