People go to absurd limits to "protect" what they call their
"intellectual property", though in reality the aim is only to eliminate
competition.
It seems Nestle had tried to register the shape of their "mint with a
hole" in the UK Patent Office! Fortunately, and perhaps due to some
oversight by the attorney who drafted the application, courts rejected
it when challenged. See:
http://www.jenkins-ip.com/mym/autumn2004/item_14.htm
--
V. Sasi Kumar <sasi.fsf(a)gmail.com>
Free Software Foundation of India