LONDON - Nestle on Wednesday lost its attempt to protect the shape of its four-finger Kit Kat chocolate bar in European Court of Justice after a tussle of over a decade to establish that it had a distinctive character.

The ECJ dismissed Nestle's appeal which sought to reverse an earlier court decision that had ruled against the company. Rival Mondelez International had questioned the validity of the EU trademark.

(Reporting by Alistair Smout and Guy Faulconbridge; editing by Philip Blenkinsop) ((alistair.smout@thomsonreuters.com; +44 207 542 7064; Reuters Messaging: alistair.smout.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))