Cadbury fails to stop rival using purple | Offbeat | Weird News, Odd and Freaky Stories in Northern Rivers

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CHOCOLATE giant Cadbury has lost another court bid to stop rival Darrell Lea using the colour purple.

A full bench of the Federal Court on Thursday dismissed an appeal over a judge's alleged "apprehended bias" which was lodged as one of 17 grounds of appeal.

The Federal Court in April 2007 dismissed an application by Cadbury Schweppes that the use of purple by Darrell Lea amounted to misleading and deceptive conduct.

In a long-running dispute going back more than five years, Cadbury has objected to Darrell Lea's use of various shades of purple in its store signage, uniforms and products.

In the latest court battle, Cadbury appealed against orders made by the primary judge on the grounds he should have declined to continue hearing the case because "a fair minded observer might reasonably apprehend that his honour might not bring an impartial and unbiased mind to the question raised in the proceeding, in the light of his Honour's earlier dismissal".

But in a judgment handed down in Sydney on Thursday, Justice Arthur Emmett said "the apprehended bias grounds should fail".

"I do not consider that, in all of the circumstances, a fair minded lay observer, properly informed of those circumstances, might reasonably apprehend that the primary judge might not bring an impartial and unbiased mind to the resolution of the questions before him," Justice Emmett wrote in the judgment.

Justice Emmett and Justice Andrew Greenwood dismissed the latest grounds of appeal, while Justice Anthony Besanko upheld the grounds of appeal.

The remainder of Cadbury's other grounds of appeal will be heard on March 2, 3 and 4.