American brand Kraft and Australian brand Bega have had a clash in court.
After a recent announcement from Kraft confirming two favourites were set to return to supermarket shelves, both brands were called to a New York federal court.
According to court documents, Kraft requested the judge mediate on an ongoing dispute between the two companies.
The court documents state the dispute as “Bega’s blatant violation of Kraft’s intellectual property rights,” News.com.au sighted.
The intellectual property in question is in regards to the iconic design of a jar of peanut butter.
At present, Kraft Peanut Butter is made by Bega, but from next year things could become a bit sticky if customers want to buy the original tasting Kraft spread, and are confused by the Bega Peanut Butter with the exact same label.
Bega has said it owns the classic Kraft recipe and that Kraft’s recipe is new, “made in a different factory by different people”.
Bega acquired the Peanut Butter spread earlier in the year from Mondelez who had taken over some of the Kraft products when the company split in 2012.
When Bega acquired the factories used to make the Peanut Butter and the recipe, part of the deal was that Bega could only use the Kraft name until the end of 2017.