Lindt & Hauswirth in chocolate bunny bust up

With easter in full swing a row has broken out between two chocolate manufacturers, Lindt and Hauswirth, over who has the right to manufacture golden chocolate bunnies with red ribbons around their necks.

Chocolate manufacturer Lindt has been making its trademark golden bunny since the early 1950s, selling 60 million of them every year. In 2000 the company copyrighted their design for protection.

However Austrian chocolate manufacturer Hauswirth has also been making similar golden chocolate bunnies with red ribbons for 50 years, which has got Lindt hot under the collar as they say that only they have the right to make it.

With the two chocolate bunny rivals squaring up to each other in court, Lindt lawyers are saying that the Hauswirth bunny must undergo a colour change. Lindt are suggesting that the Hauswirth bunnies are wrapped in bronze with a green ribbon, a suggestion that has been rejected by Hauswirth.

With Hauswirth losing the first round in court they were unable to sell their bunnies for Easter, so the company started giving them away to thousands of delighted children across Austria. The next court round is scheduled for June.

By then any remaining chocolate bunnies will certainly be feeling the heat.