On Monday, a US judge turned down Ben & Jerry’s legal challenge against its parent company, Unilever, paving the way for Israeli businessman Avi Zinger (the license holder in Israel) to sell the iconic ice cream not only in Israel but in the West Bank (Biblical Judea and Samaria). Ben & Jerry’s claimed that selling their product in the West Bank violated their values (since the West Bank is “occupied” illegally by Israel).
Manhattan US District Judge Andrew Carter said that the ice cream giant failed to prove that they would suffer harm or that customers would be confused, as they claimed.
Last year, Ben & Jerry’s made headlines when they announced that they would no longer sell their products in the West Bank because of their “values.” However, since 2000, Unilever has owned the famous Vermont-based ice cream company, known for its “Chunky Monkey” and other exotically titled flavors.
While the original Ben and Jerry are no longer in charge, the board of Ben & Jerry’s still has some authority, so they decided to pull out from the West Bank (as a protest move—even ice cream can be political these days!). However, they didn’t have the final say. Unilever has the real power, and the company decided to sell the license for the recipes, flavors, much of the branding, etc., to Avi Zinger, the Israeli businessman who was already overseeing the local factory and distribution. The ice cream products will be sold in the West Bank using Hebrew and Arabic trademarks and not English ones.
Judge Carter tossed out the claim by Ben & Jerry’s, saying that it was “too speculative.” “Ben & Jerry’s has offered no evidence of such confusion or the impact of the alleged confusion.”