Danone Sues Chobani Over ‘Bright & Mellow’ Cold Brew

Two yogurt giants are now locked into a legal battle over cold brew branding, as Danone is alleging trademark infringement against La Colombe parent company Chobani.

At the center of the lawsuit is the use of the phrase “Bright & Mellow” on packages of ready-to-drink cold brew.

According to U.S. court records, Danone or its subsidiaries have filed legal action against Chobani at least four times since 2012, including multiple allegations of false advertising, with mixed results.

The latest suit, filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleges that Chobani infringed on Danone’s intellectual property in a “knowing, calculated, and systematic” way following its $900 million acquisition of the La Colombe coffee company in 2023.

The suit was filed on behalf of Danone US, the U.S. business of French multinational packaged food giant Danone, which owns the Dannon and Oikos yogurt brands, among many others.

Danone also owns the Stok (currently styled SToK by the company) ready-to-drink cold brew brand, whose products compete with La Colombe’s at major grocery chains such as Target, Kroger and Wal-Mart.

U.S.-based Chobani, which expanded into beverages after building a yogurt empire in New York, has not yet filed a formal reply to the suit. The company did not immediately reply to DCN’s request for comment.

The lawsuit alleges that after the acquisition, Chobani altered an existing cold brew product to mimic an existing Stok cold brew product by using a similar golden yellow color and the descriptors “light roast” and “Bright & Mellow.” Danone contends that the product packaging infringes upon its trademarks related to an existing Stok unsweetened cold brew product with a yellow label and the prominent descriptor “Bright & Mellow.”

In the suit, Danone US outlined its process in arriving at the “Bright & Mellow” name in 2020, as it sought to differentiate the lighter-roasted brew from competing products. According to the complaint, the company found that some focus groups were not drawn in by the phrase.

“For instance, one respondent stated, ‘I don’t really know what to expect it to taste like from the name,’ and another respondent replied, ‘I can imagine mellow but not bright so I might try but probably not,'” the suit states.

Despite this feedback, Danone moved forward with the “Bright & Mellow” label.

“Danone determined that ‘Bright & Mellow’ cued in consumers desirable associations and suggested an enticing and positive taste experience, while also acting as a unique differentiator among competing products,” the complaint states. “In fact, the uniqueness of the name was identified as a potential drawback for ‘Bright & Mellow’ during Danone’s consumer research, with some focus group respondents explicitly reporting that the name did not convey any useful information about the product or its taste.”

The case is Danone US, LLC and WhiteWave Services, Inc. v. Chobani, LLC, No. 1:25-cv-6217.

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