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Kraft fights for Cadbury name

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Cadbury might be a household name for chocolate in most of the world, but some mainland farmers are more familiar with it as a brand of fertiliser.

And that's got Kraft Foods, owner of the famous chocolate brand, embroiled in a trademark dispute in a Beijing court.

Gaosheng Science and Technology, a firm based in Changsha, Hunan, has registered a line of fertiliser products under the trademark Ji Bai Li, the Chinese translation of Cadbury.

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Cadbury China has taken the case to the Beijing No 1 Intermediate People's Court, demanding the State Administration of Industry and Commerce's Trademark Appeals Board rule on whether Cadbury qualifies for well-known trademark status on the mainland.

The board earlier ruled against Cadbury's demand to invalidate the fertiliser trademark.

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Cadbury argued it should be withdrawn on the grounds that it misled consumers and diluted the Cadbury brand. However, the board said the Chinese trademark in dispute would not lead to confusion and harm Cadbury's business, because fertilisers and confectionery were two very distinct product categories.

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