Haribo Wednesday lost a long-running battle against Lindt when a German federal court ruled that the chocolate teddy bears produced by the Swiss giant were not a copy of the German sweets maker's gummy bears.

"Lindt's sale of bear-shaped chocolates wrapped in a golden foil with a red ribbon is neither a violation of Haribo's 'Gold Bear' trademark nor an illegal imitation of the fruit gum products," the court ruled.