Cadbury loses five year battle with Swiss rivals Nestle to trademark the colour PURPLE on its chocolate bars Company introduced distinctive purple colour as tribute to Queen Victoria Has now lost legal test case to trademark the particular shade of purple Cadbury has lost the exclusive right to use its iconic purple colour on chocolate bars after a bitter court battle with Swiss rival Nestle. The company first introduced the purple in 1914 as a tribute to Queen Victoria and it has identified its products on sweet shop shelves ever since. However, it has lost a legal test case to trademark the particular shade of purple - Pantone 2865c - for the exclusive use of Cadbury products. Cadbury has lost the exclusive right to use its iconic purple colour on chocolate bars after a bitter court battle with Swiss rival Nestle Cadbury chocolate has carried its distinctive purple colouring since 1914, when it was adopted as a tribute to Queen Victoria Today's decision opens up the possibility that rivals could launch a host of copycat products While the challenge to Cadbury was brought by Nestle, the impact is that any supermarket or rival could now use "Cadbury purple" on their products. The decision opens up the possibility that rivals could launch a host of copycat products to try and cash in on the success of the Dairy Milk bar and other products, such as Crispello and Heroes. The decision was announced by the Court of Appeal today and came as a shock after Cadbury had won its case at all earlier stages of the legal battle. Following a victory at an earlier stage, a spokesman said: "Purple is a colour that has been used by Cadbury for more than 100 years - the colour has always been associated with Cadbury. Purple was Queen Victoria's favourite colour and the Cadbury brothers were loyal supporters of the Queen. We have gone to great lengths to guard our trademark rights and ... We have been looking to protect the colour for years.. Workers pictured wrapping the Dairy Milk chocolates at the Cadbury factory at Bournville in 1930 Advert for Cadbury's Daily Milk bar in 1905, before it had adopted its purple colour However, the company founded in Bournville, Birmingham, and controversially taken over by Kraft of the USA in 2010 in a deal worth £11.5billion will now have to think again. The holding company for the famous British brand is now called Mondelez. The court case turned on a technicality and whether the language used by Cadbury in an application to trademark the colour had been clear. The three Court of Appeal judges decided it had not and therefore denied the confectionary company's attempt to claim exclusive use of it. In the past, Nestle has been accused of undermining Cadbury products with its Quality Street My Purple chocolate bar, which had a similar wrapper. Cadbury was established in 1824 by John Cadbury in Birmingham. By 1842 he was selling 16 varieties of drinking chocolate and 11 different cocoas. Bristol company Fry & Son made a "chocolate delicieux a manger" in 1847, the first bar of chocolate as we now know them. The first milk chocolate was created in 1875 by a Swiss man, Daniel Peter, who added milk to the recipe. Cadbury launched its first milk chocolate in 1897. Cadbury Dairy Milk started out in pale mauve with a red script. The full Dairy Milk range became purple and gold in 1920. In 2009 Cadbury Dairy Milk became a fairtrade food item. A spokesman for the firm said: "We welcome the Court of Appeal's decision to uphold Nestlé"s objection against Mondelez's proposal to trade mark its Dairy Milk "Purple" colour across a broad range of products. We believe this was the right outcome from a legal perspective. Cadbury insisted that even if it does not have exclusive use of the particular shade of purple, it will take action against anyone who tries to copy or pass off their products as looking like Dairy Milk. A spokesman said: "We are disappointed by this latest decision but it's important to point out that it does not affect our long held right to protect our distinctive colour purple from others seeking to pass off their products as Cadbury chocolate. Our colour purple has been linked with Cadbury for a century and the British public has grown up understanding its link with our chocolate. We are studying this particular ruling and will consider our next steps which includes the possibility of an appeal. Fiona McBride, partner and trademark attorney at Withers & Rogers, said: "This is a massive blow to Cadbury and has made it even more difficult for brand owners to obtain trade mark protection for use of a colour. Seeking colour protection has never been easy or straightforward - it is necessary to demonstrate that consistent use of a specific colour over a period of time has led it becoming recognised as synonymous with the brand. With a heritage dating back to the 1920s, Cadbury had hoped that it had been using the colour purple for long enough.