Ritter Sport Returns to Court to Defend the One Asset Rivals Can't Copy: Its Square
Updated: 6 days ago
Ritter Sport is back in court to stop a rival oat bar borrowing its square packaging — a live test of how far a brand can legally own a pack silhouette, with the appeal heard at the OLG Stuttgart.
A chocolate icon defends its shape
Ritter Sport is fighting to protect the one thing that makes it instantly recognisable on any shelf: its square. The brand's appeal against a square 'Monnemer Quadrat Bio' oat bar, made by Mannheim firm Wacker, is being heard at the OLG Stuttgart.
Ritter Sport's neutral square pack — with its distinctive side flaps and fold seam — has been a registered trademark at the German Patent and Trademark Office since 1996. It argues that chocolate and muesli bars target the same shoppers, so confusion is likely, and it is seeking damages, a packaging ban and a recall.
Why a shape is worth fighting for
This is a textbook case in the value of distinctive brand assets. 'Quadratisch. Praktisch. Gut.' — square, practical, good — has been Ritter Sport's identity for decades. The shape does the work of a logo: you recognise it before you read a single word.
That is precisely why it is worth defending in court. A distinctive asset only retains its value if it stays distinctive; once rivals can borrow it, the shorthand that took decades to build starts to erode.
The other side of the argument
The defence is not trivial. Wacker's managing director Matteo Wacker argues that a square is a basic geometric shape that cannot be monopolised. In January 2026 the Landgericht Stuttgart agreed, dismissing the claim and finding no infringement; Ritter Sport appealed.
Wacker has leaned into the fight with characteristic cheek, pulling the product from online sale and relaunching a longer bar pointedly named 'Monnemer Klageriegel' — 'lawsuit bar'. The case could ultimately reach Germany's Federal Court of Justice.
What businesses should take from it
You may not have a trademarked shape, but you almost certainly have distinctive assets — a colour, a sound, a phrase, a layout. The lesson is to identify them, protect them where you can, and use them consistently enough that they become yours in customers' minds.
Marketing Minute's take: distinctiveness is a commercial asset, not a nicety. Ritter Sport is spending on lawyers to protect what most brands give away through inconsistency. Guard the handful of things that make you instantly recognisable.
Quick FAQ
Why is Ritter Sport in court?
It is appealing at the OLG Stuttgart to stop a rival's square 'Monnemer Quadrat Bio' oat bar, arguing its square packaging — a registered trademark since 1996 — risks consumer confusion.
What is the defence's argument?
Wacker argues a square is a basic geometric shape that cannot be monopolised; a lower court agreed in January 2026, which Ritter Sport is now appealing.
Why does the square matter so much?
It is Ritter Sport's most distinctive asset — recognisable before you read the name — which is why the brand treats protecting it as a commercial priority.
Ritter Sport is spending on lawyers to protect a shape, and that's not vanity — it's defending a distinctive asset worth decades of recognition. Most brands lose their distinctiveness through inconsistency, not lawsuits. Identify the few things that make you instantly recognisable, and guard them. — Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing
Distinctiveness is a commercial asset — most brands give theirs away through inconsistency.
What are the few assets that make your brand recognisable at a glance — and are you protecting them?
If you would like to know more about this topic, please contact us on danieln@merxmarketing.co.uk
Sources: inFranken/dpa, LTO, Horizont, beck-aktuell.
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Written by Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing Ltd and Marketing Minute
