Key takeaways
- Danone claims Chobani mimicked the design and tagline of Danone’s SToK RTD cold brew product.
- The lawsuit follows previous legal disputes in 2016 and 2019, where Chobani was found guilty of false advertising and misleading claims against Danone.
- Danone asserts that the ‘Bright & Mellow’ trademark is distinct and associated with its brand.
- The French multinational argues that Chobani’s rebranding of La Colombe’s RTD products makes them confusingly similar to SToK’s, potentially causing consumer confusion and harming Danone’s brand reputation.
Danone has launched court action against US dairy company Chobani for trademark infringement and unfair competition.
The French multi-national claims Chobani’s La Colombe RTD coffee copied the looks of Danone’s SToK RTD cold brew product, from its ‘Bright and Mellow’ tagline to its yellow packaging design.
The owner of SToK wants Chobani to stop using ‘Bright & Mellow’ and to pay Danone damages – including lost profits and treble damages for ‘wilfully’ infringing trademark rights.
“This is merely the latest in a long line of efforts on the part of Chobani to unfairly compete with Danone and copy Danone’s product packaging,” the French multi-national alleges in a court complaint filed with the New York Southern District Court.
Danone references legal disputes from 2016 and 2019 where courts found Chobani engaged in false advertising and misleading claims, suggesting a pattern of unfair competition.
Heated competition in chilled coffee
Danone's primary competitors in the US RTD cold brew market include Starbucks, Califa Farms, and Chobani.
The US segment was valued at $11.5bn in 2024 and is projected to surpass $19bn by 2033, growing at a CAGR of 6.60% from 2026 to 2033 according to market insights agency Verified Market Reports. Globally, RTD coffee is projected to be valued at $43.8bn by 2028.
What Chobani did wrong, allegedly
According to the complaint, Chobani ‘wilfully’ adopted the ‘Bright & Mellow’ tagline – which Danone claims is distinctive to its RTD coffee brand – and re-designed La Colombe’s product packaging to closely resemble that of SToK – from the golden-yellow bottle to the way roast level and sugar content claims are listed on-pack.
In the complaint, Danone explains it came up with the ‘Bright & Mellow’ trademark ‘to convey a taste experience’; choosing to display the mark on top of the pack and place roast level claims at the bottom. This also differentiated it from competitors, who displayed their products’ roast level more prominently.
“Danone determined that ‘Bright & Mellow’ cued in consumers desirable associations and suggested an enticing and positive taste experience, while also acting as a unique differentiator among competing products,” the company said.
Since introducing the trademark, Danone sold over 16.6 million units and made nearly $100m in revenue, the company revealed. Not only was the mark associated with Danone by consumers; but the French multi-national also owns the copyright to it.
“Danone owns U.S. Trademark Application Serial No. 99/042,437 for the BRIGHT & MELLOW Mark (the “BRIGHT & MELLOW Application), which was approved for publication on July 22, 2025 by the United States Patent and Trademark Office,” says the company.
In the complaint, Danone alleges that Chobani – upon refreshing the branding of La Colombe’s RTD products in late 2024 – changed the packaging of the medium-roast Columbian coffee product by removing a bisecting blue band from the middle; toned down the bright yellow hue to a more subdued golden; and switched the existing ‘Bright & Flavorful’ mark to ‘Bright & Mellow’.
Protein wars
While the lawsuit focuses on RTD coffee, Danone wades into another category where it competes with Chobani: high-protein yogurt.
In the complaint, the French multi-national suggests that Chobani's line of high-protein Greek yogurt mimics the design of Danone's Oikos: "[A]fter Danone introduced its Oikos Pro and Oikos Triple Zero high-protein Greek yogurt products, which are sold in a distinctive black package, Chobani released its own high-protein Greek yogurt product in a dark, navy blue package with similar cup shape, font, and graphics."
These packaging changes made La Colombe’s product ‘strikingly similar in appearance’ to SToK’s, Danone alleges.
“Chobani’s changes to its product packaging, and adoption of the exact same mark for the exact same type of product, will inevitably cause consumer confusion..., and cause severe and irreparable harm to Danone and the goodwill it has built up in the BRIGHT & MELLOW Mark over the past four and a half years,” the complaint reads.
The French multi-national says it has experienced ‘actual damages’ including lost profits as well as damage to the goodwill and reputation; while Chobani has been ‘unjustly enriched’ through the use of a ‘confusingly similar’ mark on its La Colombe range.
How did they get here?
2020: Danone begins developing a lighter roast RTD cold brew product. La Colombe (later acquired by Chobani) introduces a yellow-packaged Colombian cold brew labeled “Bright & Flavorful.”
2021: Danone launches its “Bright & Mellow” cold brew product under the SToK brand in January. La Colombe re-designs its packaging and introduced flavor descriptors like 'Bold & Rich' and 'Bright & Flavorful'.
2023: Chobani acquires La Colombe for $900m in December.
2024: Danone discovers that Chobani has changed La Colombe’s packaging and adopted the “Bright & Mellow” mark, allegedly mimicking Danone’s product.
2025: Danone sends a cease-and-desist letter to Chobani in March, demanding it stop using the “Bright & Mellow” mark. In July, Danone's trademark application for “Bright & Mellow” is approved for publication by the USPTO. Later that month, the company files a lawsuit against Chobani in the Southern District of New York.
Statistically, trademark infringement cases are frequently settled, with only 0.9% of such cases proceeding to trial. This makes litigation outcomes like jury verdicts extremely rare.
According to court records, the next steps in the Danone-Chobani lawsuit is an initial conference. This has been set for October 23, 2025 at 10:00am before judge Jennifer L. Rochon at the Southern District Court of New York.
