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Playing for peanuts - Kraft v Bega

On 15 April 2020, the Full Court of the Federal Court of Australia in Kraft Foods Group Brands LLC v Bega Cheese Limited [2020] FCAFC 65 upheld the decision that Kraft's iconic peanut butter trade dress, which consists of a yellow lid, clear jar and red and blue labelling belongs to Bega Cheese Limited (Bega). Although Kraft had not previously tried to protect elements of the peanut butter trade dress as trade marks, Bega acquired title to the trade dress in 2017 when it purchased the assets from a number of Kraft's Australian and New Zealand subsidiaries, including Kraft's peanut butter business. Importantly, Bega's asset purchase included acquiring all assets and goodwill of Kraft's Australian subsidiary Mondelez Australia (Foods) Ltd (Mondelez), which had been using Kraft's iconic peanut butter trade dress in the Australian market for a number of years.