Thatchers win appeal against Aldi over cloudy lemon cider trademark battle

A cider shaper has won their latest trademark conflict successful the Court of Appeal against Aldi implicit claims the supermarket copied its cloudy citrus cider.

Somerset-based Thatchers archetypal sued Aldi for trademark infringement successful November 2023, claiming its Taurus marque of cider copied its product.

The lawsuit was dismissed past January by the High Court, aft Judge Melissa Clarke concluded determination was a debased grade of similarity betwixt the products and nary likelihood of confusion.

But Thatchers challenged that ruling astatine the Court of Appeal past month, and the entreaty has present been allowed.

The German retailer says it is ‘disappointed’ and intends to appeal.

In a 40-page ruling, Lord Justice Arnold said Aldi had infringed the trademark with regards to its motion – the graphics connected the cans and connected the cardboard four–can battalion of the Aldi product, and not the Aldi merchandise itself.

He said Aldi achieved ‘substantial sales’ of the Taurus cider successful a abbreviated play of clip ‘without spending a penny connected promoting it’, suggesting that the supermarket ‘obtained the vantage from the usage of the motion that it intended to obtain’.

The ruling said: ‘In my judgment, it is plain from a examination betwixt the motion and the trademark that the erstwhile intimately resembles the latter.

‘The inescapable decision is that Aldi intended the motion to punctual consumers of the trademark.

‘This tin lone person been successful bid to convey the connection that the Aldi merchandise was similar the Thatchers product, lone cheaper.

‘To that extent, Aldi intended to instrumentality vantage of the estimation of the trademark successful bid to assistance it to merchantability the Aldi product.’

Martin Thatcher, 4th procreation cider shaper astatine Thatchers Cider, said: ‘This is simply a triumph not conscionable for our household business, but for each businesses whose innovation is stifled by copycats.’

He added that they were ‘thrilled’ the tribunal had ‘got to the halfway of the contented and cleared up immoderate cloudy judgment’.

In a statement, Aldi said: ‘We are disappointed that the Court of Appeal disagreed with the High Court successful this case.

‘We deliberation the Court of Appeal’s determination is incorrect and we mean to appeal.

‘Aldi offers exclusive brands arsenic low-price alternatives to much costly branded products.

‘The High Court was wide that Aldi customers cognize what they are buying erstwhile they store with us.’

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