It’s gin time: Aldi faces off with Marks and Spencer in court over light up bottle
Aldi and Marks and Spencer are back in court today for round two of their fight over a light up gin bottle with gold flakes.
Marks and Spencer launched an intellectual property legal action against discount supermarket rival Aldi back in 2021 over a gin.
Marks and Spencer introduced a new line of gin based liqueurs for Christmas in 2020. The bottles are festively decorated and the liqueur contains gold flakes which become suspended in the liquid when the bottle was shaken. An LED in the base of the bottle illuminates the contents of the bottle.
A year later, Aldi started selling gin liqueurs containing gold flakes in a light up bottle.
Marks and Spencer brought a claim for infringement under the Registered Designs Act 1949.
The High Court heard the ‘look-alike’ arguments and last February it ruled that Aldi’s designs did not produce a different overall impression on the Marks and Spencer design. The court found that the Aldi’s designs infringed the registered designs.
Aldi has since appealed this decision, which is being heard at the Court of Appeal today. The case will run for six hours today before Lord Justice Lewison, Lord Justice Moylan and Lord Justice Arnold.
This is not the first product the shopping chains have battled over, in February 2022, Marks & Spencer settled a long-running dispute with Aldi over its iconic Colin the Caterpillar cake. The deal resulted in Aldi alternating the appearance of Cuthbert the Caterpillar, its lookalike version.