Global Jelly Bean infringement lawsuits end in settlement

Jelly Belly Candy Company, makers of Jelly Belly® jelly beans, “The Original Gourmet Jelly Bean”®, recently reached an out of court settlement with Aran Candy of Ireland ending trademark infringement lawsuits in three countries. Jelly Belly jelly beans, known worldwide as President Ronald Reagan s favorite while in the White House, are distributed in Germany by subsidiary Starkfried GmbH of Hamburg.


The settlement requires Aran Candy to desist from mimicking the Jelly Belly logo, its unique menu design, certain proprietary flavor names, and Jelly Belly’s humanized jelly bean character, Mr. Jelly Belly. Aran has also agreed not to use worldwide a similar mark to the Jelly Belly registered Chinese mark. The lawsuits were filed in the U.S., Canada and United Kingdom and were settled by the parties before the cases went to trial. Jelly Belly claimed that Aran’s use of its logo, menu design, flavor names, and humanized jelly bean character infringed Jelly Belly’s rights and resulted in trade and consumer confusion.


Jelly Belly® jelly beans are distributed in over 50 countries around the world and enjoy high brand name recognition. As distribution in the global marketplace grows intellectual property protection is essential, according to company executives. “We will continue to aggressively protect our intellectual property rights worldwide,” said Jelly Belly president and chief operating officer Robert Simpson.