It was first Colin the Caterpillar. Now glitter-flecked gin liqueur has become the latest cause of a legal row between Marks & Spencer and discount supermarket Aldi.
M&S is taking its German rival to court over claims Aldi has copied its Light-Up Gin, three varieties of which were registered as designs earlier this year.
Aldi’s ‘The Infusionist’, which comes in clementine and blackberry flavours, is £6 cheaper than the M&S version.
They come both in a round-shaped glass bottle that has a light inside the base. This illuminates the edible gold glitters in the liqueur.
M&S is taking its German rival to court over claims Aldi has copied its Light-Up Gin (pictured), three varieties of which were registered as designs earlier this year
Legal documents filed by M&S at the High Court earlier this month state that Aldi’s products ‘constitute designs which do not produce on the informed user a different overall impression to the [M&S] designs’.
M&S claimed that an average member of the public ‘who is interested in purchasing liqueur during the Christmas period’ might not notice the difference between the two products.
Stobbs, an intellectual property law firm which is representing M&S, pointed to press coverage which compared the two products and their prices, and similar tweets from shoppers.
According to the supermarket chain, all features protected by the law include the shape of the bottle and the light-up function.
Aldi is asked to cease ‘infringing on’ its designs. All items implicated in the dispute must be destroyed and damages paid.
An M&S spokesman said the supermarket had ‘introduced many firsts to the UK’, including glitter gin globes and chicken kievs, and knew ‘the true value and cost of innovation’.
The gin debacle is the second time M&S has gone head-to-head with Aldi this year, following ‘Caterpillargate’
According to the spokesperson, “Our customers trust us because we have high quality products and strict sourcing standards. We will continue to work hard for our brand and keep our customers safe from imitations.”
The gin debacle is the second time M&S has gone head-to-head with Aldi this year, following ‘Caterpillargate’.
M&S sued the discounter in the spring, claiming that its ‘Cuthbert the Caterpillar’ cake was a direct copy of M&S’s Colin the Caterpillar which has been in production since the 1990s.
Although the cake case remains open, Aldi took advantage of it and started trending in Twitter with the hashtag #FreeCuthbert.
In a series of tweets, Aldi poked fun at its 136-year-old rival, dubbing the chain ‘Marks & Snitches’.