Cadbury and Mars settle 25-year dispute over ‘CELEBRATIONS’ trademark

New Delhi: Mars Incorporated and Cadbury (India) have reached a settlement over the use of the trademark ‘CELEBRATIONS’, ending a legal contest that had persisted for nearly 25 years. 

The Delhi High Court recorded the agreement, bringing a conclusion to one of India’s longest-running confectionery trademark disputes, as per the news report.

A single-judge Bench of Justice Sanjeev Narula observed that the decades-long contest had concluded “not in discord, but in harmony.” He added, 

“For nearly twenty-five years, two titans of the confectionery world, Mars and Cadbury, have stood before this Court, locked in contest over the trademark ‘CELEBRATIONS'. Today, that long journey finds its conclusion. The curtains are drawn at last, not in discord, but in harmony.”

Under the settlement, both companies agreed to withdraw their respective opposition and rectification proceedings pending before the Indian Trade Marks Registry. The Delhi High Court noted that the agreement, dated July 3, 2025, was “lawful and voluntarily executed.”

The court also highlighted a joint goodwill initiative proposed by the two firms. As part of the initiative, Mars and Cadbury committed to distributing assortments of their confectionery products worth Rs 5 lakh each to schoolchildren across Delhi. 

The exercise will be supervised by the Directorate of Education and the Delhi State Legal Services Authority (DSLSA), with the distribution scheduled to take place preferably before the main festival.

Justice Narula lauded the settlement, saying, “Even in fiercely competitive industries, corporate rivalry need not eclipse social responsibility. True celebration lies not in triumph over another, but in generosity towards others.” 

The court noted that the true value of the case lay not in its extensive pleadings, but in “the conduct of the parties at its close.”

The Delhi High Court concluded that through this amicable resolution, the two companies, once adversaries, had restored the simple meaning of the trademark. “‘CELEBRATIONS’ now denotes joy that is shared and not divided,” it remarked.