BBC
Thatchers brewery has lost a High Court trademark battle against Aldi over rival cider products.
The Somerset-based brewer sued the supermarket chain over claims Aldi had “copycatted” its Cloudy Lemon Cider “in both taste and appearance”.
Following a blind taste test, Judge Melissa Clarke ruled on Wednesday there was a “low degree of similarity”.
An Aldi spokesperson said: “There’s nothing cloudy about this judgement. It’s clear cut.”
At a trial in London in November, Thatchers accused Aldi of gaining an “unfair advantage” in sales by copying the product which the family-run cider business had released in February 2020.
Thatchers claimed Aldi’s Taurus drink, released in May 2022, had been “riding on the coat-tails of the reputation” of the Thatchers brand, and was “misleading shoppers to believe that the ciders are the same, or in some way linked.”
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