Tesco has lost a High Court appeal against a ruling that it infringed Lidl’s trademark over the use of a yellow circle on a blue background.
It follows the High Court ruling in 2023 that Britain’s biggest retailer had taken “unfair advantage” of the German discount grocer’s distinctive reputation for low prices when it brought in the Clubcard Prices discount scheme.
Lidl has a yellow circle in its main logo while Tesco uses the yellow and blue logo to highlight products that carry lower prices for Clubcard scheme members.
A Lidl spokesperson said: “Last year, The High Court ruled that Tesco’s Clubcard logo was copied from ours and infringed our trademark rights, allowing them to unfairly benefit from our longstanding reputation for value while misleading its customers.
“Despite this, Tesco prolonged the dispute by appealing, deceiving customers for another year. Therefore, we are delighted to see that the Court of Appeal has now agreed with the High Court that Tesco’s use of its Clubcard logo is unlawful. We expect Tesco now to respect the Court’s decision and change its Clubcard logo to one that is not designed to look like ours.”
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In response, a Tesco spokesperson said: “Our customers always tell us just how important Clubcard Prices are to giving them great value – and it’s been a key reason why we’re consistently the cheapest full-line grocer.”
“We are disappointed with the judgment relating to the colour and shape of the Clubcard Prices logo but would like to reassure customers that it will in no way impact our Clubcard Prices programme.
“Clubcard Prices, irrespective of its logo, will continue to play a central role in rewarding our Clubcard members with thousands of deals every week.”
Last year, figures by Kantar in the 12 weeks to 15 May revealed that Tesco raked in £8.92bn in sales as its Clubcard discounts enticed shoppers as they hunted out the best deals.
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