Aldi has won a high court trademark battle after drinks company Thatchers accused the supermarket of copying one of its products.
The Somerset-based cider maker sued the German discounter for infringing the trademark of its Cloudy Lemon Cider in November last year.
It claimed that the supermarket had gained an unfair advantage by copying the drink in both “taste and appearance”.
However, the High Court dismissed the claim on Wednesday and said there is “no likelihood of confusion” between Thatchers’ product and Aldi’s Taurus cider.
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Judge Melissa Clarke found that the supermarket’s lemon cider packaging ultimately had a “low degree of similarity” to Thatchers’ product.
In addition, the court case referenced other third-party lemon-flavoured beverages that used similar packaging, including Alaska cloudy Sicilian lemon premium cider, and Somersby Citrus apple cider.
An Aldi spokesperson said: “There’s nothing cloudy about this judgement. It’s clear-cut. Aldi exclusive brands are just that: exclusive to Aldi while leading the market on quality and price.”
It is not the first time the supermarket has faced accusations of copying another brand’s products.
Last year, a court found that Aldi had infringed M&S’ design of light-up gin bottles.
The retailers had previously clashed when M&S accused the discounter’s Cuthbert the Caterpillar cake of infringing the trademark of its famous Colin cake. The dispute eventually settled outside of court.
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