A retail chain lost the trademark on its name
The recipe, the name and the shape: three ways to protect a food product, and two stories from Europe.
The British retail chain Iceland Foods registered the name Iceland as a trademark in Europe, and after ten years of dispute lost that registration, while the name stays on its stores.
We start with this dispute and read two more stories alongside it, about the recipe and the shape, and what protects each one.
trademark applications reached the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property in the first half of 2026, about 180 applications every day.
Why do some food companies keep their recipes secret instead of patenting them?
A patent protects an invention for a limited period in return for disclosing it, so it suits a new invention you accept publishing. A trade secret protects recipes without registration for as long as it stays secret, so it suits what you can keep hidden:
One example of a secret is the Coca-Cola formula. Each option has its condition: a patent requires disclosing the invention, while a secret requires keeping it secret, and its protection ends if it leaks. This is a simplified comparison, as protection depends on the nature of the right and the legal system.
Does registering a name guarantee it stays a trademark?
The British frozen food chain Iceland Foods registered the name Iceland as a trademark in Europe, and the country objected because the mark stopped its companies from promoting themselves under their own country’s name:
The European Union Intellectual Property Office said that the name of a country that has existed since the ninth century cannot be registered as a trademark.
Is a product’s shape enough as a trademark?
Nestlé registered the shape of its four-finger chocolate bar as a trademark in Europe, and Cadbury, which later became part of Mondelez, objected:
In 2018 the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that the shape had not proven distinctive in all EU countries, while countries including Germany, Australia and Canada registered it.
Picks from intellectual property news
The Council of Ministers approved laws on patents and utility models, protection of new plant varieties, layout designs of integrated circuits, and designs. The announced stage is Council of Ministers approval, and we did not find an effective date in the source.
Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property, 20 October 2026A Chinese court ordered subsidiaries of the Hoyuan Group to pay about $14.5 million for trademark infringement, and the group announced it had stopped using the mark.
MLex, 20 October 2026Before you print the pack
Search for your product’s name in the Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property’s trademark database before printing it on any pack or sign.
What are you afraid will be copied in your food project?
Send your question to editorial@saudifoodtech.sa, and we may dedicate an upcoming issue to it.
Sources
- Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property, statistical report for the first half of 2026, via Al Jazirah (4 October 2026).
- World Intellectual Property Organization, frequently asked questions on trade secrets.
- Deeside.com (4 March 2026), and Retail Gazette (March 2026).
- Dezeen, Court of Justice of the European Union ruling in the Kit Kat case (13 August 2018).
- Saudi Authority for Intellectual Property, chairman’s statement on the four laws (20 October 2026).
- MLex, Huiyuan trademark ruling (20 October 2026).
- World Trademark Review, SAIP trademark search tool (2 February 2023).
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