Yarra Valley chocolaterie is facing a David and Goliath battle over these delicious treats

Yarra Valley chocolaterie has been dealt another blow in the wake of the horror bushfires with the family-run business embroiled in a legal battle with confectionery giant Nestle over one of its most popular treats.

The Yarra Valley chocolaterie has been forced to rename its freckle chocolates after a legal complaint from Nestle. Picture: Jay Town

A Victorian chocolate maker is in a spot of legal trouble over the use of the trademarked term freckle.

Family-run Yarra Valley chocolaterie has been embroiled in a David and Goliath battle with confectionery giant Nestle after being sent a legal notice to rename its products.

But instead of immediately changing the branding, owners Leanne and Ian Neeland said they were staring down the threat and gradually phasing out the freckle name over 12 months to avoid having to pulp all their labels and packaging.

The Yarra Valley chocolaterie have been told their "freckles" can't be named Freckles any longer. Picture: Jay Town

The transition period meant half the products were sold as freckles and the rest under the new name polka dots.

Mrs Neeland said they were taken by surprise when they received a letter from Nestle’s lawyers last June instructing them to remove the freckle name within three months.

“We were secretly impressed that we were big enough to make the radar of such a massive company. But at the same time we were really disappointed,” she said.

They wrote back to Nestle saying they wanted a year to change the freckle name to avoid having to get rid of $50,000 of labelling, but never received a response.

Mrs Neeland said it had been stressful having a legal cloud hanging over them.

“We think it’s crazy. How can you own a word like freckle? It’s been around for centuries. So for somebody to use their power to be able to stop somebody else using a word like that and to impact their business, it’s the big business against the small guy.”

The chocolaterie, which has stores in Yarra Glen, Flinders on the Mornington Peninsula, and Bellbrae on the Great Ocean Road, stocks more than 20 products with the freckle name, including the giant freckle, freckled eggs and freckle lollipops.

Yarra Valley Chocolaterie say it has been stressful having a legal cloud hanging over them.

Mrs Neeland said even with a 12 month changeover they were expecting to have to dump about $5000 worth of unused freckle labels by May.

“It’s a blow. We’ve been dealing with the impact on tourism first from the bushfires and now the coronavirus, so it’s a constant battle for small business owners.”

She said it was sad to lose the freckle name but they were trying to turn it into a positive, with a brainstorming session held to come up with the alternative polka dot label.

“We’re hoping people still love our great tasting new polka dots as much as they did our freckles.”

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A Nestle spokeswoman said in a statement issued on Sunday the company was willing to work with Yarra Valley chocolaterie in a way that minimises their cost and inconvenience.

She said it was important for companies to protect their trademark by preventing unauthorised use by others, “as if they don’t, they can lose them forever”.

“This is why we asked Yarra Valley Chocolaterie to stop using use our registered trademark FRECKLES.”

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