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Lidl wins trademark lawsuit against Tesco over Clubcard logo
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By Nithya Bose in UK Business News, posted April 19, 2023
The High Court has ruled Tesco copied Lidl’s yellow circle for its Clubcard logo after a months-long legal battle.
The judgment means an injunction against Tesco that will force it to stop using the loyalty scheme logo.
The German discount retailer uses a yellow circle on blue background in its trademark logo, while Tesco features one-to-list deals available to its Clubcard members.
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Justice Joanna Smith found the the Clubcard and Lidl’s logos are similar and said: “Tesco has taken unfair advantage of the distinctive reputation which resides in the Lidl Marks for low price (discounted) value.
“The [Clubcard logo] was plainly intended (amongst other things) to convey value and thereby to influence the economic behaviour of supermarket shoppers.”
Smith said using the Clubcard logo was to cause a “subtle but insidious” shift of image [from the Lidl logo] to the Clubcard logo in the minds of some customers.
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She noted: “This will have assisted Tesco to increase the attraction of their prices.”
A Lidl GB spokesperson said: “Over the last three years, Tesco has been using its Clubcard logo to deceive many customers into believing that Tesco was price matching against Lidl or was able to offer the same great value as us.
“We asked Tesco to change their Clubcard logo, but they refused, making it necessary to bring this case.
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“Having seen the evidence, the Court has now ruled that Tesco’s Clubcard logo was copied from Lidl’s logo, and it infringes Lidl’s trade mark rights and copyright.
“This infringement allowed Tesco to take unfair advantage of our longstanding reputation for great value, misleading their customers at a time when they should have been supporting them.
“We are pleased that the Court has agreed with us and that it will now order Tesco to stop using the Clubcard logo.”
Source: Retail Gazette
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