Thatchers win appeal against Aldi over cloudy lemon cider trademark battle

A cider maker has won their latest trademark battle in the Court of Appeal against Aldi over claims the supermarket copied its cloudy lemon cider.

Somerset-based Thatchers first sued Aldi for trademark infringement in November 2023, claiming its Taurus brand of cider copied its product.

The case was dismissed last January by the High Court, after Judge Melissa Clarke concluded there was a low degree of similarity between the products and no likelihood of confusion.

But Thatchers challenged that ruling at the Court of Appeal last month, and the appeal has now 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 sign – the graphics on the cans and on the cardboard four–can pack of the Aldi product, and not the Aldi product itself.

He said Aldi achieved ‘substantial sales’ of the Taurus cider in a short period of time ‘without spending a penny on promoting it’, suggesting that the supermarket ‘obtained the advantage from the use of the sign that it intended to obtain’.

The ruling said: ‘In my judgment, it is plain from a comparison between the sign and the trademark that the former closely resembles the latter.

‘The inescapable conclusion is that Aldi intended the sign to remind consumers of the trademark.

‘This can only have been in order to convey the message that the Aldi product was like the Thatchers product, only cheaper.

‘To that extent, Aldi intended to take advantage of the reputation of the trademark in order to assist it to sell the Aldi product.’

Martin Thatcher, fourth generation cider maker at Thatchers Cider, said: ‘This is a victory not just for our family business, but for all businesses whose innovation is stifled by copycats.’

He added that they were ‘thrilled’ the court had ‘got to the core of the issue and cleared up any cloudy judgment’.

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

‘We think the Court of Appeal’s decision is wrong and we intend to appeal.

‘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.’

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