Mom come quick, the yogurts are fighting about coffee again. Danone, the parent company of Dannon and Chobani are having it out in court over trademark infringement. Danone is alleging that Chobani copied the design and some verbiage from SToK Cold Brew to use on their own line under the La Colombe brand.
Per Reuters, Danone states that Chobani committed “knowing, calculated, and systematic” trademark infringement to redesign packaging for a line of La Colombe cold brew that is “strikingly similar” to that of SToK’s. The thrust of the argument revolves around the usage of the phrase “Bright & Mellow.”
Danone states they have been using the phrase since 2021 to distinguish itself from the likes of Starbucks and La Colombe. Then in December 2023, after a $900 million buy-out from Chobani, La Colombe switched slogans on their cold brew from “Bright & Flavorful” to “Bright & Mellow.” (They also started calling the same coffee a light roast as opposed to a medium roast, do with that information what you will.)
Another point of contention is the color of the packaging. Danone is alleging that La Colombe’s yellow design bears a striking resemblance to their own yellow-and-black.
Danone states the similarities will “cause severe and irreparable harm to Danone and the goodwill it has built up in the Bright & Mellow mark over the past four and a half years.” They are seeking an injunction stopping Chobani from selling their product marketed in this fashion as well as “lost profits and triple damages.” This is the third time in a decade the two brands have met in court.
The trademark for “Bright & Mellow” was filed for in February of this year by Whitwave Services—owners of the SToK trademark—who were purchased by Danone back in 2016. Per Trademarkia, the “Bright & Mellow” trademark is in a live/pending status. And while this does seem a bit of silly tussle from the outside, brands are required to defend their trademarks against infringement lest they lose it. Which is what Danone is doing here.
Either way, I’m not buying my cold brew from a yogurt company. Unless it’s Go-Gurt and they start selling them in those tubes so I can freeze them and make ice cold brew pops. BRB gotta trademark something real fast.
Zac Cadwalader is the managing editor at Sprudge Media Network and a staff writer based in Dallas. Read more Zac Cadwalader on Sprudge.
