Cuthbert vs Colin M&S vs Aldi over trademark rights to a chocolate cake.
Retail outlet chain Marks and Spencer have lodged an intellectual property claim with the High Court this week with regards to the similarities of their famous ‘Colin the Caterpillar’ cake and Aldis Cuthbert the Caterpillar cake.
M&S wants Aldi to remove the product from sale and agree not to sell anything similar in the future.
The retailer has three trademarks relating to Colin, which it believes means Colin has acquired and retains an enhanced distinctive character and reputation.
M&S was the first retailer to sell a caterpillar cake, but many supermarkets have since created their own similar products.
Cecil The Caterpillar (Waitrose)
Clyde The Caterpillar (Asda)
Wiggle The Caterpillar (Sainsburys)
and
Curly The Caterpillar (Tesco)
All wait with baited breath on the high court decision.
The product was launched around 30 years ago. Colin’s 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.
Aldi have taken to social media to bask in the ‘food fight’ this is occurring making light heart of the situation:
