Aldi has confirmed it is bringing back a limited edition version of its Cuthbert the Caterpillar cake despite a legal row with M&S.
The budget supermarket announced the news on social media with the cake to return to shelves next month with all profits to be donated to cancer charities.
Aldi's Cuthbert the Caterpillar cake was removed from sale earlier this year amid a copyright infringement legal challenge by M&S over claims its looks almost identical to Colin the Caterpillar.
The chain wants to remove Aldi's version from shelves indefinitely - but it is not taking legal action against other rival supermarket takes on the caterpillar cake.
M&S claims the Cuthbert cake infringes its trademark and "rides on the coat-tails" of its reputation.
Aldi’s social media team have responded to legal action with a stream of mocking posts and memes.
The supermarket announced the news on Tuesday, where it called on Cuthbert and Colin to “be besties”.
“Hey Marks and Spencer we’re taking a stand against caterpillar cruelty. Can Colin and Cuthbert be besties?
“We’re bringing back a limited edition Cuthbert next month and want to donate all profits to cancer charities including your partners Macmillan Cancer Support and ours Teenage Cancer Trust.
“Let’s raise money for charity, not lawyers #caterpillarsforcancer.”
Aldi says it will bring back a limited edition version to stores next month and will donate profits to its charity partner Teenage Cancer Trust and Macmillan Cancer Support, which is a charity partner of M&S.
Cuthbert the Caterpillar used to retail for £4.99 in stores but the supermarket has not confirmed if the new edition will be sold at the same price or if it will have a new design.
Aldi has not released an official statement in response to the M&S row, but it has been posting a series of tweets with the hashtag #FreeCuthbert in reference to the dispute.
In one cheeky response, which plays on M&S' famous slogan, Aldi tweeted : “This is not just any court case, this is... #FreeCuthbert.”
After confirming the legal action, M&S said: "Because we know the M&S brand is special to our customers and they expect only the very best from us, love and care goes into every M&S product on our shelves.
"So we want to protect Colin, Connie and our reputation for freshness, quality, innovation and value."
Gary Assim Partner, partner at national law firm Shoosmiths, said: “Aldi is known to sail close to the wind on creating products which look and/or sound incredibly similar to other brands.
“The typical attack is for the brand owner to claim that Aldi is infringing a trade mark like here in the M&S case or that Aldi is passing off its product as that of the brand owner.
“M&S may find their case against Aldi difficult since there are other caterpillar cakes on the market.”
