The end of supermarket copycat items could be in sight after a bombshell decision by a Swiss court over Lidl's knock-off chocolate bunnies.

The Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland ruled that Lidl's chocolate bunnies wrapped in aluminium foil, whether 'golden or of another colour', were too similar to Lindt's.

It banned the chain's Swiss branches Lidl Schweiz and Lidl Schweiz DL from selling similar bunnies and ordered the destruction of any still in stock.

Now some branding experts hope the case will lead to stricter rules in the UK to prevent supermarkets creating its own versions of branded products.

Aldi and Lidl famously sell their own, cheaper knock-offs of branded goods in their stores, and even leading supermarkets have been known to take advantage of others' popular products such as M&S's Colin the Caterpillar cake.

The Swiss ruling comes after a hotly contested court case over the caterpillar cake between Marks and Spencer's and Aldi was finally settled earlier this year in a confidential deal.

Brand expert Jessica Andrews said that the ruling is an opportunity for the UK 'to bring into focus that this is not an acceptable practice' and end supermarket knock-offs, encouraging them to 'develop their own style' instead.

'In the UK we have a very different copyright law then they do in the US.

'Absolutely everything image-based in the US has to be legally trademarked.

'In the UK we don't have to do that but we've got a really nasty trend as the internet's grown of companies globally coming in and stealing designed intellectual property.

'Hopefully this case will bring into focus that this is not an acceptable practice.

'Brands spend a lot of time getting their image and look right.'

She added: 'It's a really tough situation to navigate. You have the influencer copycat who wants to emulate the brand people like at a cost they can afford.

(What a waste of chocolate! They should be allowed to donate the chocolate bunnies to charity, no?)

By ELIZABETH HAIGH FOR MAILONLINE, 30 September 2022.