Aldi And Marks & Spencer Settle Caterpillar Cake Dispute

Peace has at last been brokered in the great war of the supermarket caterpillar cakes.

You may recall there was a period last year when talk of warring caterpillar cakes seemed constant. Basically, Marks & Spencer accused Aldi of copying its Colin the Caterpillar cake and launched legal action, in a bid to see the supposedly copycat Cuthbert the Caterpillar taken off shelves.

A lot of to and fro followed, with the German discount supermarket repeatedly trolling M&S on social media and starting the #FreeCuthbert campaign.

But yesterday (Tuesday 1 February), both parties confirmed they had reached a settlement - though they declined to offer up details of the agreement.

An Aldi spokesperson told LADbible: "Cuthbert is free and looking forward to seeing all his fans again very soon!"

Meanwhile, an M&S spokesperson - striking a contrastingly serious tone - said: "The objective of the claim was to protect the [intellectual property] in our Colin the Caterpillar cake and we are very pleased with the outcome."

M&S launched its Colin the Caterpillar cake more than 30 years ago, adding festive adaptations and Connie the Caterpillar to its caterpillar cake range over the years.

Many supermarkets have subsequently launched similar cakes of their own - such as Sainsbury's Wiggles, Tesco's Curly, Morris by Morrisons, the Co-op's Charlie, Cecil by Waitrose and Asda's Clyde - but Aldi's Cuthbert the Caterpillar was seemingly deemed to have crossed a line.

M&S wanted Aldi to remove the product from sale and agree not to sell anything similar in the future - but Aldi made it clear it wouldn't back down without a fight.

On Facebook and Twitter, the supermarket said: "This is not just any court case, this is... #FreeCuthbert"

M&S launched an intellectual property claim with the High Court last April, arguing the similarity of Aldi's product lead consumers to believe they are of the same standard and 'rides on the coat-tails' of M&S's reputation.

M&S has three trademarks relating to Colin and argued it/he has an enhanced distinctive character and reputation.

Aldi made changes to the design of its cake and began selling it again last May.

As reported by The Telegraph, High Court Judge Timothy John Bowles allowed the legal claim to be withdrawn on Thursday (27 January), as the retailers signed a 'confidential agreement' over the claim in November.

Featured Image Credit: Alamy

Topics: UK News, Aldi, Marks and Spencer, Food And Drink

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey