Bega wins appeal over peanut butter jars

Australian brand Bega has won a second victory over the use of trademark yellow lids on its peanut butter jars in a battle against US food giant Kraft.

Kraft appealed last year's Federal Court decision awarding Bega exclusive rights to use the yellow lid plus the red and blue peanut labels.

However, on Tuesday, the Federal Court dismissed the challenge.

When Bega bought the company, it kept the branding colours but ran ads stating "Kraft peanut butter is now Bega peanut butter".

The American company claimed it was misleading to consumers but the appeal judges disagreed.

"Even if there were a possibility that some reasonable consumers would be confused about the change in brands, conduct that merely causes confusion is not misleading or deceptive," justices Lindsay Foster, Mark Moshinsky and Michael O'Bryan wrote in their decision.

The fight over product image and copyright ownership was sparked during a series of takeovers.

The Kraft company was bought by Heinz and the Australian products, including peanut butter, moved under the Mondelez umbrella that was bought by Bega.