FINAL OUTCOME
Infringement rejected (generic term)
INFRINGEMENT REJECTED · Final
The first mover sought exclusive use of the name, but the court held “Choco Pie” had become a generic name for the product type and rejected Orion’s claim — which is why several makers use it.
- Original
- Orion (then Tongyang) Choco Pie · 1974
- Compared
- Lotte Lotte Choco Pie · 1979
- Launch gap
- 5 years later
- Alleged
- Product name, Product shape
- Licence
- No licence found (not a finding of illegality)
- Rights
- Trademark
Look at how it actually ended, not at how alike it looks. An allegation is not a finding.
ALLEGATION → RESPONSE → DECISION → OUTCOME
Allegation
Orion (1997) — Argued “Choco Pie” was its trademark and competitors’ use infringed it [Trademark] · 시사저널e (C)
Company response
Nothing confirmed
Court / agency decision
IP trial and courts → Supreme Court · Final · 2001 — Claim rejected
Final outcome
INFRINGEMENT REJECTED — A court or IP office rejected the rights holder’s claim
SIMILARITY MATRIX
What was said to be alike, item by item
- Launch
- 1974 → 1979 · 5 years later
- Product name
- Similarity alleged — The name “Choco Pie”
- Product shape
- Similarity alleged — Round marshmallow cake coated in chocolate
- Logo
- Different
- Licence
- No licence found (not a finding of illegality)
- Legal conclusion
- Infringement rejected (generic term)
No automatic image-similarity score is used; looking alike is not legal infringement. Official images are added once usage rights are confirmed.
TIMELINE
In order
- 1974 LAUNCHOrion launches Choco Pie · 시사저널e (C)
- 1979 LAUNCHLotte launches its Choco Pie · 시사저널e (C)
- 1997 LEGALOrion brings trademark proceedings · 시사저널e (C)
- 2001 OUTCOMESupreme Court: “Choco Pie” is generic — Orion loses · 시사저널e (C)
LEGAL PROCESS
Each decision and its reasons
IP trial and courts → Supreme Court · Final
2001 · Trademark · Claim rejected · 시사저널e (C)
- “Choco Pie” had become the generic name for a round chocolate-coated marshmallow cake and lost distinctiveness
Reasons are short paraphrases of the cited source only.
UNKNOWN
Left blank for lack of a source
- Case number and judgment text (press-based)
- Reasoning at each level
No “saved R&D cost” estimate is made without real data.
SOURCES
Checked 2026-10-08. Not legal advice. Know of an error or a later ruling? Tell us.