By Steve Farrell2021-04-19T16:28:00+01:00
Who would have thought Aldi would sail dangerously close to the winds of intellectual property law with a product very reminiscent of someone else’s?
The whole world, it appears. Aldi has been having a field day making fun of M&S’s caterpillar cake High Court claim with its #FreeCuthbert Tweets. No-one seems in the least bit shocked at the alleged ‘trademark infringement’. Instead, they’re lapping up the suggestion that ‘Marks & Snitches’, as Aldi put it, has gone a bit OTT in its reaction.
After all, it’s not the first time Aldi has copied a popular product. Sometimes, it hasn’t paid off. In 2019, the discounter delisted its Moo Gourmet Yoghurt after Collective co-founder Amelia Harvey claimed the products looked too similar to the brand’s. That followed a similar row between sausage brand Heck and Aldi the previous year.
Could this be the end of Aldi s beloved budget knock-offs ? M&S s legal battle with Aldi over its £4.99 Cuthbert the Caterpillar cake could see more popular items in line for the chop, say retail experts (but can YOU tell the real from cheeky copies?)
Lower-cost alternatives could now be under threat, after Marks & Spencer started legal action against Aldi
M&S claim that its rival s Cuthbert the Caterpillar cake infringes its trademark on Colin the Caterpillar
Experts say M&S is unlikely to win because it would have to prove consumers were sufficiently confused
But they say an M&S victory would be a can of worms, because it won t end, it will be product after product
M&S’s Colin the Caterpillar
M&S is suing Aldi over the similarities of the discounter’s Cuthbert the Caterpillar cake to its own Colin the Caterpillar.
M&S claims Cuthbert amounts to trademark infringement and is demanding Aldi remove the product from sale. The business filed its claim with the High Court yesterday (14 April).
It argues Cuthbert amounts to ‘passing off’ due to its “substantial similarity” with Colin, which it says could lead consumers to falsely believe the two products are sourced to the same standards.
“At M&S we are passionate about creating the highest-quality, most innovative food for our customers – whether that is 100% British sourced meat or iconic products like Colin the Caterpillar, Percy Pig and our glitter gin globe,” said a spokesman.