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Bristol Post
Bristol Post
Entertainment
Aaliyah Miller

Aldi trolls M&S over new lawsuit about popular Christmas product

Supermarkets Aldi and Marks & Spencer are at it again with another legal battle.

The two retailers are going head to head after the German supermarket has been accused of allegedly copying M&S' iconic Christmas light-up gin.

This suit comes only seven months after Aldi were accused of copying M&S's Colin the Caterpillar cake with their own 'Cuthbert the Caterpillar'.

READ MORE: Aldi trolls M&S over Colin Caterpillar legal case by mocking slogan

Both of the retailers' gins come in a bell-shaped light-up bottle, that hosts gold flakes. However, the price does differ - with Aldi's alcohol selling at £6 cheaper than the £20 M&S alternative.

M&S court papers declare that Aldi's product is "strikingly similar" to its own product, listing several features it claims are protected - including the shape of the bottle as well as the light feature, gold leaf flakes and winter graphic.

In order to counteract the supermarket's similar product, M&S has ordered an injunction to stop Aldi from committing any further alleged infringements of its protected designs.

As well as this, M&S has also instructed Aldi to destroy or hand over any product that may breach the injunction and will also conduct an investigation into potential damages. However, Aldi has already rejected the request to stop selling their gin.

Speaking on the case, an M&S spokesperson said: "M&S has a proud history as a leading British innovator and for over 136 years customers have turned to M&S for unique, original, quality products - conceived, created and developed by us working with our trusted suppliers and produced to the highest standards.

"Our customers have confidence in our products because they trust our quality and sourcing standards so we will always seek to protect our reputation for freshness, quality, innovation and value - and protect our customers from obvious copies."

Continuing, the spokesperson added that its competitor knew the "true value and cost of innovation and the enormous time, passion, creativity, energy and attention to detail, that goes into designing, developing and bringing a product to market".

However, Aldi has taken a more light-hearted approach to the legal trouble. The supermarket has posted a series of jokey tweets about the legal case on its Twitter account.

One said: "Nothing like getting taken to court to give you that tingly Christmas feeling #FreeCuthbert #Round2". The hashtags referring to the retailers previous legal troubles with M&S.

The tweets continued with Aldi writing: "We Colin our lawyers #Round2 #FreeCuthbert" following up by saying: "We're... GINNOCENT"

Aldi has not yet formally given a comment on the situation.

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