Intellectual Property Lessons from the Colin vs Cuthbert Cake Battle
- Commercial Law
- 2nd Feb 2022
The Battle Royale between Colin and Cuthbert (M&S and Aldi) has reached a confidential settlement in the High Court. .
By Stephen Attree
mlplaw
Intellectual Property Lessons from the Colin vs Cuthbert Cake Battle show how branding and product design need strong protection. Moreover, the legal dispute between M&S and Aldi, which has reached a confidential settlement in the High Court, highlights the value of innovation and the law’s role in safeguarding creative work.
Meanwhile, Aldi’s clever PR and marketing spin won support amongst its customer base. Nevertheless, many high street retailers will be relieved at the ruling.
Intellectual property and the creativity that goes into branding and product design require vast amounts of time, resources and risk from the creators. Furthermore, we all benefit when companies are willing to innovate and bring new ideas to market.
For a long time, the law has protected authors and creators from those who would seek to cut corners and piggyback on the hard work of others. This includes passing off, design rights, copyright or trade mark protection. (There are also patents, however, no patents were involved in this case.)
As the communications from Aldi suggest, we are likely to see Cuthy B reappear in some form. However, I suspect it will be substantially different from the cake that previously graced its shelves.
It’s 1 – 0 going into round two on the light-up gin case. My money’s on M&S.
Stephen Attree
For any intellectual property protection and intellectual property infringement advice please contact our Commercial and IP team on commercial@mlplaw.co.uk or alternatively call 0161 926 9969.
About the expert
Stephen Attree
Managing Partner
Stephen is the Owner of MLP Law and leads our Commercial, IP and Dispute Resolution teams which provide advice on all aspects of the law relating to mergers, acquisitions, financing, re-structuring, complex commercial contracts, standard trading terms, share options, shareholder and partnership agreements, commercial dispute resolution, joint venture and partnering arrangements, IT and Technology law, Intellectual Property, EU and competition law, Brexit and GDPR.
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