Court rules square oat bar packaging infringes Ritter Sport trademark

Court sides with Ritter Sport

On Thursday, 5 November 2026, the Higher Regional Court (Oberlandesgericht, OLG) in Stuttgart sided with Ritter Sport in its dispute with Wacker, a family-owned company from Mannheim. The court granted the chocolate maker's claims for an injunction and damages over the oat bar "Monnemer Quadrat Bio", according to presiding judge Christoph Stefani. He said the packaging was similar to an above-average degree and the products were at least similar to an average degree, which creates a risk of confusion. The judgment is not yet final and carries the case reference 2 U 3/26.

The court tied its reasoning to the strength of the chocolate brand. Wacker had placed itself deliberately within that pull, benefiting from decades of investment in the brand without having contributed to it.

“Due to its very high distinctiveness, the contested mark enjoys strong attention and therefore exerts considerable pull.”

Background of the dispute

Wacker launched the oat bar in November 2024, saying its square packaging drew on the grid layout of Mannheim's city centre. The bar is smaller than the classic 100-gram Ritter Sport bar and has longer side flaps, but Ritter Sport argues the square shape still resembles its chocolate. The company says a trademark protecting its packaging has been in place since 1996. Wacker received its first letter from the chocolate maker in January 2025, and a lawsuit followed. Besides damages, Ritter Sport wants Wacker to stop using the current packaging and to recall goods already delivered.

The company also holds a registration at the German Patent and Trade Mark Office for a blank chocolate wrapper with side flaps and a longitudinal seam on the back. Ritter Sport fears a trademark collision because chocolate and muesli bars are, in its view, similar goods eaten by the same target group on the same occasions.

Arguments before the court

The Stuttgart Regional Court dismissed the suit in January 2026. It found no likelihood of confusion and no exploitation of the brand's reputation, and it called the two products not identical. The judges said shoppers see the two as different snacks, since they are not sold in the same supermarket place and have different main ingredients.

Matteo Wacker, the managing director, argues that the oat bar is not chocolate at all. Supermarkets stock chocolate next to chocolate and list oat bars under cereals, and in his view the product meets a different need, a wholesome snack rather than a sweet treat. Trademark lawyer Philip Kohl of the Stuttgart firm BRP Renaud sided with the court. He pointed to European case law that treats chocolate and grain-based muesli bars as similar goods, and he sees a risk of confusion given the similar packaging.

Reactions and next steps

Ritter Sport welcomed the decision and said it "corrects the lower court's misjudgment". The company argues that the slogan "Quadratisch. Kokos. Klar." was a deliberate association with Ritter Sport, and that brand protection is central because packaging helps shoppers recognise the brand on the shelf.

Matteo Wacker told Spiegel by phone that no further appeal was admitted and that the company wants to file a complaint against that refusal. He called the decision hard to understand and said he is convinced that no one has ever bought the Monnemer Quadrat thinking they were buying Ritter Sport.

Co-managing director Melanie Wacker added that the company is not even listed in supermarkets. Wacker estimates that giving up now would already leave it owing more than 55,000 euros in legal costs and over 15,000 euros in damages. Online orders for the coconut and hazelnut version have been stopped to limit possible higher damages, and a longer bar called "Monnemer Klageriegel" temporarily replaces it. Both sides accuse the other of not engaging with proposals for a solution.