M&S wins copycat gin court battle against Aldi

M&S has won its court battle with Aldi, having accused the discount grocer of copying its light-up festive gin bottle design.

Yesterday (31 January), the high court ruled that Aldi had infringed M&S’ design, according to reporting by Retail Week.

The light-up gin which contains gold flakes was first sold by M&S in autumn 2020, at the same time that Aldi had launched its Infusionist gin liqueur which is also lit up at the bottom and features gold flakes.

Subscribe to Grocery Gazette for free

Sign up here to get the latest grocery and food news each morning

First addressed in December 2021, M&S alleged that Aldi’s gold flake blackberry and clementine gin liqueurs were “strikingly similar” to products for which it holds a registered patent.

Aldi denied all infringement, arguing that the design features used by its rival were “widely known across the sector”.

However, His Honour Judge Hacon of the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court said yesterday: “Going back to the statutory test, it is whether the [registered designs] in suit and the Aldi bottles produce a different overall impression. In my judgement, they do not because of the features they have in common.”

The discount grocer had said its gin liqeuer was different due to ‘The Infusionist Small Batch’ labelling on the front of its bottles, however this was ruled as a “relatively minor detail” by Hacon.

Aldi has said it will appeal the decision, however it could be forced to pay damages to M&S and might be handed an injunction to prevent it from selling the product again.

A spokesperson for M&S told Retail Week that it was “pleased with the judgement which demonstrates the importance of protecting our innovation.”

”For over 138 years, customers have turned to M&S for unique, original, quality products – conceived, created and developed by us working with our trusted suppliers and produced to the highest standards.

”Like many other UK businesses, large and small, we know the true value and cost of innovation and the enormous time, passion, creativity, energy and attention to detail, that goes into designing, developing and bringing a product to market.

“Our customers have confidence in our products because they trust our quality and sourcing standards so we will always seek to protect our reputation for quality, innovation and value.”

An Aldi spokesperson added: “We are disappointed with this judgement and will be appealing the decision. Aldi is committed to offering customers the highest quality products, at the lowest possible prices.”