Peanut butter war erupts again as US food giant Kraft fights a decision to make Aussie dairy company the owner of a favourite spread

• US giant Kraft has taken case against Bega Cheese to the high court for appeal
• Bega bought the recipe and processing centre for Kraft peanut butter in 2012
• Kraft claims Bega did not purchase rights to 'trade dress' of label and lids  
• In 2019 the federal court ruled in favour of Bega using the 'trade dress' 

The bitter dispute between Kraft and Australian owned Bega Cheese has erupted again as the companies battle over the rights to an iconic spread's label and lid.

Bega won the right to use the trademark and yellow lids on its peanut butter jars in a 2019 court ruling but now Kraft is taking the case to the high court. 

Kraft argues Bega, who bought the peanut butter and Vegemite line in 2012, didn't purchase the 'trade dress' of the peanut butter, including the lid and label design.

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Kraft will argue Bega's 2012 purchase of the peanut butter did not include the 'trade dress' of the product which includes the lid and label designs (pictured)

Executive general manager of Bega Adam McNamara is confident the company will overcome the new challenge to its trademark after successive court rulings in their favour.

Last week Kraft appealed the 2019 ruling by the federal court with an application to the high court. 

Kraft owned the peanut butter in 2012 when the company split its business with the Australian operations being taken over by a firm called Mondelez, news.com.au reported. 

Soon after the firm sold the factory and peanut butter recipe to Bega for $460 million.

The Australian company then promptly replaced the Kraft product name with their own. 

The initial court proceedings saw Kraft claiming Bega did not buy the rights to the 'trade dress' of the peanut butter product, which included the lids, label and bottle design.   

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Kraft Heinz has taken its case against Bega Cheese to the high court after the federal court ruled Bega purchased the full trademark to the Kraft peanut butter line in 2012

The federal court ultimately ruled Bega had purchased the rights to the 'trade dress', which the court acknowledged was created by Kraft. 

Prior to this week's appeal to the high court Bega had already spent $9.5 million on legal costs.  

If they are to lose a high court ruling the company would likely be forced to write off the $490 million it spent on the product.  

Mr McNamara said the Australian owned company would not back down against Kraft.

'Bega is a very proudly owned Australian food company,' he said.

And we remain very confident in our position that we believe that we bought the trade dress, the recipe, the trademark and ultimately the factory in Port Melbourne in good faith.'

Daily Mail Australia has contacted both Bega and Kraft for further comment.  

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 Prior to this week's appeal to the high court Bega had already spent $9.5 million on legal costs after purchasing the product line for $460million (Bega's Melbourne headquarters pictured)