Atari files lawsuit against Nestle for KitKat ‘Breakout’ advert

Have a break… Have a summons

Atari have filed suit against food-makers Nestle over a 2016 KitKat commercial that featured a concept similar to the 1976 arcade classic Breakout.

The UK-based advertisement (which itself is titled “Breakout”) features a group of people at a train station taking time out by enjoying a video game similar to the Nolan Bushnell-classic, except with KitKat fingers replacing the game’s wall of coloured bricks.

Atari have taken issue with the “plain and blatant” infringement, stating that Nestle exploited “the special place (Breakout) holds among nostalgic baby boomers, Generation X, and even today’s millennial and post-millennial gamers.” The lawsuit was filed this week in a San Francisco court.

A Nestle spokesperson responded that “This is a UK TV advert that ran in 2016. The ad no longer runs and we have no current plans to re-run it,” adding that they “will defend ourselves strongly against these allegations.”

Nestle and the KitKat brand are no strangers to the courts. Earlier this year the manufacturer lost a long-running battle with Cadbury whilst trying to trademark the KitKat’s “four-finger bar” design.

In related news, I want some chocolate.