Trademark causes choc crisis for Mozart Balls

19 September 2012, 10:17 | Updated: 19 September 2012, 10:20

Sweet manufacturers in Austria will now be allowed to freely use the Mozart name to market their products after a ban on using the name has been lifted.

Until now, just one confectionary manufacturer has had permission to use the Mozart name for their products, Mozartkugeln ('Mozart Balls'). However, a lift on the ban means that other Austrian companies will now be able to use the name to market their sweets.

The ruling comes after another chocolate manufacturer attempted to trademark a  new kind of liqueur chocolate based on the same recipe as Mozart Balls. Austrian courts then decided that the Mozart name was so associated with confectionary that all manufacturers should be able to use it.

A trademark will remain on Mozartkugeln products, but it is expected that many confectioners will now capitalise on the lifting of the ban and name all manner of products will use it to boost sales.

Originally known as the Mozartbonbon, the manufacturer of the sweets, Fürst, originally trademarked the Mozartkugeln name when imitation products began to appear on the market. Various other trademark disputes have taken place over the years between Fürst and other confectioners.