Marks & Spencer has taken Aldi to court over a copycat version of its £7 Colin the Caterpillar cake.
The grocery giant claimied Aldi was ‘riding on the coat-tails’ of its reputation and launched an intellectual property claim with the High Court this week.
M&S has argued the similarity of Aldi’s £4.99 Cuthbert the Caterpillar cake to its product misleads consumers, who might think they are of the same standard.
This is despite other supermarkets also carrying similar products on their shelves.
Sainsbury’s sells a caterpillar cake called Wiggles for £6 and Tesco features Curly the Caterpillar for the same price.
Despite this, M&S wants Aldi to remove the cake from sale as well as agree not to sell anything similar in the future.
M&S launched an intellectual property claim with the High Court this week because of Aldi’s Cuthbert the Caterpillar cake. Pictured, Colin the Caterpillar
M&S launched Colin the Caterpillar around 30 years ago and his appearance has been substantially unchanged since around 2004, except for adaptations for events such as Halloween and Christmas, and related products such as Connie the Caterpillar.
Meanwhile, reports of the Cuthbert the Caterpillar version first emerged in 2019.
Two years ago M&S responded to a customer’s Tweet about Aldi’s cake with a picture of spiderman and the comment: ‘Hmm, my spidey senses are tingling… we definitely spot an impostor.’
Meanwhile, reports of the Cuthbert the Caterpillar version (pictured) first emerged in 2019
Two years ago M&S responded to a customer’s Tweet about Aldi’s cake with a picture of spiderman and the comment: ‘Hmm, my spidey senses are tingling… we definitely spot an impostor’
The product is central to M&S’s partnership with cancer charity Macmillan, and the retailer has created a Colin product for the annual World’s Biggest Coffee Morning fundraising event.
The cake is a sponge with milk chocolate and buttercream, topped with chocolate sweets and a smiling white chocolate face.
M&S has three trademarks relating to Colin, which the retailer believes means Colin has acquired and retains an enhanced distinctive character and reputation.
Earlier today, M&S took to Instagram with an image of the signature cake which was annotated with the slogan: ‘The original and the best.’
It was posted alongside a caption that read: ‘You might have seen @official_colinthecaterpillar is in the news… Colin won’t be commenting, but says thanks for your support #OGColin’
Earlier today, M&S took to Instagram with an image of the signature cake which was annotated with the slogan: ‘The original and the best’
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.’
Last year, M&S launched a new cake delivery service where you can send a loved one a Colin the Caterpillar cake and gift bag filled with treats for £20.
Emmy Hunt, trade mark specialist and partner at European intellectual property law firm, Potter Clarkson, said: ‘Marks and Spencer’s claim is unlikely to be strong in respect of any assertions around consumer confusion between the two products, but it might succeed if it relies on the market reputation that its Colin the Caterpillar range has established over many years.
M&S launched Colin the Caterpillar around 30 years ago and his appearance has been substantially unchanged since around 2004, except for adaptations for events such as Halloween and Christmas. Pictured, an Easter version
‘While we don’t know the background to this claim, it is indicative of the fierce competition between UK supermarkets.
‘Indeed, other supermarkets also offer caterpillar character cakes, but it appears that Aldi may have sailed too close to the wind from Marks & Spencer’s perspective.
‘It remains to be seen which retailer will have their cake and eat it – it would come as no surprise to see this being settled behind closed doors as so many recent actions against discount retailers have been.’
MailOnline has contacted Aldi for comment.