Dec 2, 2017
20,715
Marks and Spencer has launched legal action against Aldi over a claim that the discount supermarket is infringing the trademark of its Colin the Caterpillar cake.

M&S has lodged an intellectual property claim with the High Court this week relating to its rival's Cuthbert the Caterpillar product.


It argues that the similarity of the Aldi product leads consumers to believe that they are of the same standard and allows Cuthbert to "ride on the coat-tails" of the M&S cake's reputation.

M&S wants Aldi to remove the product from sale and agree not to sell anything similar in the future.

Colin the Caterpillar, a sponge cake with milk chocolate and buttercream, topped with chocolate sweets and a smiling white chocolate face, was launched around 30 years ago.


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Its appearance has been substantially unchanged since around 2004, though there have been special adaptations for events such as Halloween and Christmas.

M&S has three trademarks relating to Colin, which the retailer believes means Colin has acquired and retains an enhanced distinctive character and reputation.

A spokesman said: "Because we know the M&S brand is special to our customers and they expect only the very best from us, love and care goes into every M&S product on our shelves.

"So we want to protect Colin, Connie and our reputation for freshness, quality, innovation and value."

Asked why M&S was taking action over this product in particular, a spokesman said it was taking "a targeted approach to protect our brand assets".

He added: "We have got significant concerns about this product."

news.sky.com

M&S in legal claim against Aldi over Colin the Caterpillar trademark

The retailer said it was taking action against its discount rival as it wanted "to protect Colin, Connie and our reputation".

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Aldi one is on the left, M&S one on the right.
 

Rodelero

Member
Oct 27, 2017
11,655
As someone that grew up in Britain and has enjoyed several caterpillar cakes in my time, fuck Aldi for this.
 

Kaseoki

Unshakable Resolve
Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,291
Literally every UK supermarket has their own caterpillar cake anyway, so why go after Aldi specifically?
 

Kaseoki

Unshakable Resolve
Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,291
NINTCHDBPICT000533936958.jpg


Might as well go after all the caterpillar cakes then no? Besides M&S is expensive.
 

Menome

"This guy are sick"
Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,454
NINTCHDBPICT000533936958.jpg


Might as well go after all the caterpillar cakes then no? Besides M&S is expensive.

A chocolate log-roll cake with decoration can't be defended, but Aldi's design with the same white face and chocolate button eyes is fairly blatant in this instance. If it was a blue face with jelly-gem eyes, I doubt this would be going ahead.
 

Kaseoki

Unshakable Resolve
Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,291
I was about to post this picture, surely it could be argued that it's generic at this point.

It is. And it's definitely not new either. Probably around 20 years now no? I definitely had a caterpillar cake in my childhood and I don't think it was from M&S either.
 

Menome

"This guy are sick"
Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,454
A chocolate log-roll cake with decoration can't be defended, but Aldi's design with the same white face and chocolate button eyes is fairly blatant in this instance. If it was a blue face with jelly-gem eyes, I doubt this would be going ahead.

To add to my point:

Anyone can draw and sell pictures of a transforming truck robot. The idea of a transforming truck-robot isn't copyrighted. But if that transforming truck-robot has the details of a red cab-chest, blue legs, hands and head, with a face guard, that's Optimus Prime.
 

Kaseoki

Unshakable Resolve
Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,291
A chocolate log-roll cake with decoration can't be defended, but Aldi's design with the same white face and chocolate button eyes is fairly blatant in this instance. If it was a blue face with jelly-gem eyes, I doubt this would be going ahead.

I guess they decided that the face was the intellectual property worth protecting.
In all other ways they are essentially the same.

NINTCHDBPICT000533933952-e1572037534125.jpg


This is Sainsbury's and it also has a very similar face too.

If they're going to go after Aldi on that basis they should go after Sainsbury's too.
 

Trike

One Winged Slayer
Banned
Nov 6, 2017
2,404
Never heard of these but the one on the left looks like the Robert Cop version of the right's RoboCop. Does it actually come with the children of the caterpillar cake like it shows in the picture? That's amazing.
 

Stalker

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
6,785
Fuck off M&S, I'm 30 and they have been about in every story since my childhood.
 

AndyVirus

The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
2,874
My nieces are coeliac so have to have the Aldi cake every birthday. Leave 'em alone, Marks.
 
Oct 27, 2017
2,902
Scotland
M&S clothes sales has been free-falling for at least a decade. Makes sense that they gotta pick on Aldi and protect their only profitable asset of their business to still be relevant.

doesn't sound like a very good cake tbh

By British standards of cakes it's actually not bad. UK cakes are generally boring, dry, bland as fuck and lack in flavour unless you're royalty or a tory.
 
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skeptem

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,776
Welcome to the world of Private Label food. Trader Joes and Aldi are amazing at quickly finding someone to make a product for them.

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shaneo632

Weekend Planner
Member
Oct 29, 2017
29,113
Wrexham, Wales
The caterpillar cake has such ubiquity these days I find a lawsuit kinda laughable. Nobody associates the caterpillar cake with M&S.
 

Fritz

Member
Oct 26, 2017
2,725
If you wanna clean up you usually go for one rip off first to see whether you have a case.