Chobani has fired back at Danone in a highly-publicized trademark infringement lawsuit by claiming the global food and beverage giant is ‘weaponizing trademark law against a superior competitor’.
In July 2025, Danone sued Chobani for mimicking the branding and packaging of its SToK ready-to-drink (RTD) coffee brand. In a complaint filed with a New York district court, the French multi-national claimed one of Chobani’s La Colombe cold coffee products deliberately uses SToK’s ‘bright & mellow’ slogan on-pack and has changed its packaging to mimic that of SToK.
These actions would ‘inevitably cause consumer confusion’ and ‘cause severe and irreparable harm to Danone’ which ‘has suffered irreparable injury’, according to the complaint.
Danone is trying to stop Chobani from using ‘bright & mellow” and is also seeking monetary damages.
But in a motion to dismiss filed last week, Chobani wants Danone’s complaint tossed, alleging that the mark ‘bright & mellow’ is too generic to be protectable by law.
Danone and Chobani's coffee rivalry
Danone acquired SToK maker WhiteWave Foods in a deal worth $12.5 bn in 2016. The acquisition was a major strategic move that enhanced Danone’s portfolio in North America, bringing brands such as Silk, So Delicious, Alpro and International Delight under the CPG major’s ownership and significantly enhancing its position in ready-to-drink coffee and creamers.
Chobani – which has for years produced its own branded range of coffee creamers – bought RTD coffee maker La Colombe from Keurig Dr Pepper for $900m in 2023.
The two companies – who also compete in the US dairy yogurt space – now vie for a share of the growing North American on-the-go coffee and creamer market, with Nestlé the third biggest player in the category.
‘Hamstringing’ a ‘superior competitor’
Chobani’s motion to dismiss describes Danone’s lawsuit as ‘an opportunistic attempt to weaponize trademark law against a superior competitor’.
“Chobani has rapidly emerged as one of the most successful players in the ready-to-drink coffee market through its La Colombe brand, offering consumers high-quality products that compete directly with Danone’s STōK products,” the motion reads. “Rather than compete in the market, Danone seeks to hamstring its rival in the courtroom – asserting trademark theories that courts in this Circuit have repeatedly rejected as a matter of black-letter law.”
“Danone’s complaint rests on the notion that it alone may use the ordinary adjectives ‘bright’ and ‘mellow’ to describe coffee. But trademark law does not permit monopolies over everyday descriptive language that consumers and coffee companies have used for decades . . .”
Case 1:25-cv-06217-JLR, Document 18, filed October 6, 2025
Generic descriptors ‘cannot be monopolized’, Chobani’s defense argues, adding that La Colombe’s use of the terms ‘is descriptive fair use’ and that no consumer confusion is possible because the products are ‘distinct in branding, packaging and labeling’.
“This case is not about protecting consumers or legitimate trademarks. It is about a competitor using litigation as an anti-competitive weapon, seeking rights it does not and cannot have to attack its competitor,” Chobani’s motion reads.
‘Not used as a mark’: Chobani contests Danone’s ‘strong trademark rights’
In its complaint, Danone claims that consumers associate the ‘bright & mellow’ mark exclusively with the company, which has established ‘strong trademark rights’ over the mark through extensive branding and promotional activities.
But the SToK owner doesn’t actually own ‘bright & mellow’ as a trademark – and that’s a key argument in Chobani’s defense.
La Colombe’s owner says that ‘bright & mellow’ doesn’t even constitute a protectable trademark because it is merely ‘a generic phrase’ that describes flavor.
Chobani points out that other players on the market are using similar language: Califia Farms’ Cold Brew Blonde Roast has ‘mellow & bright’ on pack; while Panera Bread’s ground coffee carries ‘bright, balanced, mellow’ as a description of its Light Roast product.
“The fact that Danone uses these generic terms together does not magically create a monopoly over the combination,” the motion reads. “Each one is generic – and unprotected by trademark law – on its own."
Danone says it has sold over 16.6 million units of SToK Bright & Mellow and made nearly $100 million in revenue, having spent ‘hundreds of thousands of dollars’ on advertising and marketing of SToK Bright & Mellow, according to the company’s court complaint. This has all led consumers to strongly associate the slogan with Danone, the complaint reads. Danone also argues that the target consumer is not knowledgeable enough to differentiate between the two products, which would lead to confusion.
But Chobani claims La Colombe’s packaging and labeling is distinct enough to not cause confusion – arguing that the two products are ‘highly dissimilar’.
How SToK and La Colombe's label designs evolved
Danone (STōK) launched STōK “Lighter Roast” product in 2021 with a yellow label prominently featuring STōK branding. Smaller text includes descriptors: “Un-Sweet,” “Black,” “Cold Brew Coffee,” “Lighter Roast,” “Still Bold,” “Coffee Beverage,” and “Bright & Mellow”. Other STōK varieties use similar descriptor format with terms like “Bold & Smooth” and “Extra Bold” in the same label location as “Bright & Mellow”.
La Colombe's first RTD cold brew products came to market two years earlier, in 2019 - with the launch of a light roast product in a yellow bottle taking place in 2020, a year before the arrival of SToK's Lighter Roast.
In the Spring of 2021, La Colombe updated its cold coffee packaging to include flavor descriptions - such as “Bold and Rich Brazilian Coffee” and “Bright & Flavorful Colombian Coffee” - at the bottom of the bottle.
Another packaging update followed, which changed the light roast product's yellow bottle to a slightly different shade and adding the words 'Bright & Mellow' near the bottom.
“Neither the color of the packaging nor the products’ small descriptive flourishes conceal the clear, distinct La Colombe and STōK marks, featured prominently and unambiguously identifying the products’ different sources,” Chobani’s motion explains, adding that Danone ‘does not allege a single episode of actual consumer confusion, with only a conclusory allegation that the products will ‘inevitably cause consumer confusion’”.
Proximity – the two products are frequently displayed alongside each other in grocery stores – is the ‘sole factor favoring Danone’, according to Chobani’s motion – but there’s no evidence of actual consumer confusion, it adds.
“‘Bright & Mellow’ is not a protectable trademark; Danone does not use ‘Bright & Mellow’ as a trademark; Chobani’s use of the same phrase to describe its La Colombe Product is protected fair use; and there is no likelihood of consumer confusion between the products as a matter of law,” the Greek yogurt manufacturer’s motion concludes.
Danone’s trademark application
Chobani’s motion is an escalation in the latest legal battle with Danone – but trademark infringement cases rarely proceed to trial, with the vast majority settled out of court.
One crucial factor that could influence the outcome of this litigation is Danone’s USPTO application for ‘bright & mellow’. While the French multi-national does not own the rights to ‘bright & mellow’ in the US, the company has applied for the trademark – and the application is progressing through the USPTO.
It has passed initial screening and is due to be assigned to an examining attorney, who will decide if the mark can be legally owned by Danone.
A decision could be due sooner rather than later, since the USPTO is currently assessing applications filed between March 10-24, 2025; while Danone was filed on February 14, 2025.
Chobani is represented by Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, with Gish PLLC acting for Danone.
