The family-owned business brought the claim against Aldi after a private label cider product appeared on its shelves two years after Thatchers had brought out its own Cloudy Lemon Cider.
Thatchers first launched a case accusing Aldi of infringing upon its trade mark in 2022, but that was dismissed by the High Court in January of last year.
However, following an appeal hearing presided over by Lord Justice Arnold, the Court of Appeal overturned the previous ruling and held that Aldi took unfair advantage of the Thatcher’s trade mark.
“We couldn’t be happier with this decision, which vindicates our position that Aldi had taken unfair advantage of the hard work we put in to our cider and brands,” said Martin Thatcher, managing director at Thatchers and the great-grandson of the brand’s founder William Thatcher.
“This is a victory not just for our family business, but for all businesses whose innovation is stifled by copycats. We’re thrilled the Court of Appeal got to the core of the issue and cleared up any cloudy judgment.”
Thatchers was represented by Stephens Scown LLP in court, a law firm in the south west that has worked with the brand for several years to support the protection of its IP portfolio and brand reputation.
“We are very proud to have represented Thatchers in this matter,” said Thomas Chartres-Moore, head of the IP team at Stephens Scown.
“This appeal win is testament to the passion of our client, the hard work of my team and shows that there is a real value in brands investing in appropriate IP protection to fight off unfair copycat tactics.”
Aldi ‘intends to appeal’
In the aftermath, an Aldi spokesperson said that the retailer was disappointed that Court of Appeal has disagreed with the High Court’s initial judgment and outlined plans to appeal.
“We think the Court of Appeal’s decision is wrong and we intend to appeal,” the spokesperson added.
“Aldi offers exclusive brands as low-price alternatives to more expensive branded products. The High Court was clear that Aldi customers know what they are buying when they shop with us. We will continue to produce high quality exclusive brands for our customers at unbeatable prices.”
‘Victory for innovation’
Richard May, IP partner at Osborne Clarke, described the ruling as a “victory for innovation” that will make it easier for brands to attack lookalike products, particularly against outlets who routinely engage in this kind of copycat behaviour.
“The Court of Appeal found that the first instance judge made a number of errors that led to her reaching the wrong conclusion,” May explained.
“This is not a surprising decision given that the judge’s reasoning at first instance attracted criticism from practitioners and brands alike.”
May added that many brands will be pleased with the outcome of this case.
“This judgment addresses Aldi’s overt ‘like brands, only cheaper’ marketing and how close so called dupes or lookalikes can get before a court is willing to step in and say that’s unfair," he continued.
“From the evidence, it was clear that Aldi deliberately re-designed its cider to remind consumers of Thatchers' cider and Aldi’s sales increased without spending any money on advertising. Clearly Aldi gained an advantage from the lookalike get-up.
“In this case, the court was not prepared to tolerate Aldi’s behaviour and was happy to conclude that there was unfair advantage because Aldi’s deliberate strategy enabled it to profit from Thatchers' hard work and not its own.”
‘Watershed moment’
Geoff Steward, partner & co-head of IP at Addleshaw Goddard, added: “This is a watershed moment for look-alikes, and a significant trade mark law development which is long overdue.
“The scale and proximity of look-alike packaging in the UK is far worse than anywhere else in Europe. Armed with the correct packaging trade mark registrations, UK brand owners can now sound the death-knell on the practice of supermarket own-brands free-riding on their brand IP.”
And Mary Bagnall, head of IP at Charles Russell Speechlys, described the decision as a "welcome endorsement" of the use of registered trade marks to protect against “unfair” competition from discounters.
“It’s clear that copycat products can gain a competitive advantage by replicating the appearance of already popular and iconic brands, and Aldi is no stranger to the consequences of launching lookalike products, having been successfully sued by Marks & Spencer over lookalike glitter light up gin bottles,” Bagnall said.
“This decision should act as a warning to discount supermarkets, who are looking to launch competing products to established brands, that they cannot expect to adopt lookalike packaging which rides on the coattails of other companies’ marketing and advertising efforts without significant repercussions.”
