Court in Prykarpattia seizes nearly 10 tonnes of jelly for imitating Haribo brand

Court ruling on imitation of a well-known brand

On 13 October 2026, the Ivano-Frankivsk City Court issued a ruling on the administrative liability of Tetiana Matskivska, who holds the position of director of LLC "NEW VITA GROUP". The primary reason was the violation of Haribo's intellectual property rights during an attempt to import a batch of Turkish confectionery into Ukraine.

Details of the customs incident

According to the materials of case No. 344/14176/26, the incident occurred in May 2026 at the "Prykarpattia" customs post. At that time, an attempt was made to clear a cargo consisting of over 1,300 boxes of gummy bears and bottles of jelly under the Yupo brand. The total weight of the batch reached approximately 9.8 tonnes, and the declared value exceeded 1.4 million UAH.

During the inspection, customs officers identified signs of a violation of the intellectual property owner's rights. Specifically, the shape of the confectionery resembled Haribo's protected three-dimensional trademark. Representatives of the rights holder, RIGO TRADING S.A., confirmed their claims, and an expert opinion confirmed that the appearance of Yupo products could cause confusion with the original.

Defence arguments and verdict

During the court hearing, Tetiana Matskivska insisted that Yupo is an independent brand and that the shape of the candies differs from Haribo's products. However, the judge did not take these arguments into account.

The company director was found guilty of violating Article 476 of the Customs Code of Ukraine. She was fined 17,000 hryvnias. In addition, the court ordered the confiscation of the entire batch of disputed jelly and the collection of the court fee in favour of the state.