// Lidl and Tesco are set to battle it out in a £2.35m court case as the German discounter accuses Tesco of infringing its trademark with its Clubcard Prices logo
// Tesco is accused of seeking “to ride on the coattails of Lidl’s reputation as a discounter” with the similar-looking logo
Lidl is set to take Tesco to court as it claims the UK’s largest supermarket has ripped off its trademarked logo to promote its Clubcard loyalty scheme.
The grocery giants are set to spend £2.35 million to bring the case to court.
The German discounter will claim that Tesco has exploited the background to Lidl’s trademarked logo, which consists of a blue square containing a yellow circle with a thin red border, to promote its Clubcard discounts.
Tesco uses a yellow circle cropped onto a blue square to promote its ‘Clubcard Prices’, which it launched three years ago, which Lidl claims infringes its trademark.
Lidl, which first went to court last year over the allegedly similar-looking logos, is seeking to ban Tesco from using the background on Clubcard Prices in store.
In a pre-trial hearing, Mrs Justice Joanna Smith explained: “Essentially, Lidl says that Tesco is seeking deliberately to ride on the coattails of Lidl’s reputation as a “discounter” supermarket known for the provision of value.”
Lidl will use the results of a customer survey, in which respondents were shown the disputed background without a name attached, that found that consumers associated it with the discounter.
READ MORE: Retailers at war: Six of retail’s biggest legal battles
Tesco’s bid to have the survey evidence ruled inadmissible because of what it claimed were leading questions was thrown out by Justice Smith.
Court documents show that Tesco describes the ‘wordless mark’ as “figment of Lidl’s legal imagination”.
Tesco is estimated to be spending £1.19 million on trial, while Lidl’s legal costs total £1.17 million, which the judge said reflected “how key this brand dispute is to both parties”.
A date for the court case has yet to be set.
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3 Comments. Leave new
Lidl will lose this fight. Since when has a solid yellow circle been anything other than common place. The type face is completely different. Will we soon not be allowed to use yellow emoji.
I think it’s more a publicity move more than anything – fame is basically good!
Earlier this week Tesco suffered a setback when its counterclaim against Lidl GB that some of Lidl GB’s trade marks should be declared invalid because they had been registered in bad faith was struck out by the court. Meanwhile Lidl GB was given permission to rely at trial on survey evidence concerning the distinctiveness of its marks. Still every little helps brand promotion.