Danone, Glanbia dispute name

French group Danone has instigated a High Court action against Irish dairy company Glambia in a battle over the rights to a brand name, which could result in costs amounting to millions of euros.

Glambia is using the name Yoplait Essence to promote its new range of probiotic yogurts, but Danone is claiming that the Essence name is too much like its Bifidus Essensis invention, which describes a strain of bacteria in its Activia probiotic yogurt.
The Irish company says that the names are not the same, and that Danone is no longer using the Bifidus Essensis label in Ireland, having replaced it with Bifidus Digestivum. Having already spent a fortune on marketing expenses, millions of euros may be needed for product recalls and re-labelling costs if Glanbia is forced to change the name of its Essence range.