Aldi sued again for ‘copying’, and Australian ruling may be the cause
Aldi’s strategy of mimicking the packaging used by major labels in its home-brand products is being tested in a US court, and it may have a small Australian company to thank.
Multinational food manufacturer Mondelez – which produces such brands as Oreos and Chips Ahoy biscuits – filed a US federal lawsuit this week alleging packaging of several Aldi products was “likely to deceive and confuse customers”.
It alleged Aldi’s biscuit brands are “blatant copies” of its own, and said they threatened to irreparably harm Mondelez and its brands.
Mondelez is seeking a court order that would stop Aldi from selling the products, as well as monetary damages.
Mondelez alleges Aldi’s biscuit brands (bottom) are “blatant copies” of its products (top). Photo: AAP
Aldi, a privately owned German-based company, has yet to publicly comment on the case and has not responded to requests from multiple US news outlets.
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Aldi largely relies on a strategy of stocking some big-selling brands, and supplementing them with low-cost home brand products that largely look like existing major brands.
While this strategy has been challenged many times in several countries, it wasn’t until an Australian court decision late last year that Aldi was found in breach.
In a December 17 Federal Court ruling, Justice Mark Moshinsky found that Aldi’s “Mamia” packaging infringed the copyright of companies Hampden Holdings and Lacorium Health Australia, which designed the packaging for Every Bite Counts’ Baby Bellies range of baby puffs.
The court found that there was copyright in Hampden and Lacorium’s packaging designs, and it was owned by the companies.
Importantly, Moshinsky rejected Aldi’s submission that Hampden and Lacorium were inappropriately trying to stop other traders adopting the “look and feel” of their packaging. He noted that Aldi had used a significant portion of the rival companies’ works.
The win by Hampden and Lacoriumwas a landmark decision. Photo: Federal Court
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While Aldi no longer sells its Mamia products, it has appealed the Federal Court ruling.
Since the Australian ruling, an appeals court in the United Kingdom has ruled in favour of Thatchers, a cider company that sued Aldi over design similarities in the packaging of its lemon cider.
Aldi also intends to appeal that decision.
The Thatchers Cider victory followed the Australian ruling. Photo: Thatchers/Aldi
The rulings follow a string of successful defences by Aldi dating back decades.
In 2001, shortly after it first opened in Australia, Aldi successfully defended allegations that its Cheezy Twists packaging infringed trade marks for Frito Lay’s Twisties.
In 2017, Aldi defended allegations that its Moroccan Argan Oil infringed Moroccanoil Israel’s Moroccanoil logo trade mark, or that its packaging would result in the tort of ‘passing off’.
Despite the similarities, Moroccanoil was unsuccessful. Photo: Lexology
In 2018, an Aldi spokesperson told Fairfax Newspapers that the company took “market cues to ensure that our consumers understand what they are buying”.
“Chips are often coloured according to flavours, cereal boxes are generally rectangular, mustard bottles are yellow and cola-flavoured beverages have red labelling,” the spokesperson was quoted as saying.
Those cues helped customers to navigate the supermarket but were “never used to mislead customers”.
