LIDL has been forced to temporarily stop selling a version of one of its own-brand gins after being sued by the Scottish makers of Hendrick’s gin, with the firm claiming the supermarket chain has infringed its trademark.
Lidl is defending the case and claims there are “clear and obvious differences” between the Hendrick’s trademark and the Hampstead gin product. Hendrick’s is produced by Scottish firm William Grant and Sons and was launched in 2000, with their bottles bearing a diamond-shaped label in a trademark which became effective from January 2012.
Lidl is the parent company and UK owner of the “Hampstead” trademark. Hampstead gin has been sold by in Lidl stores for at least 10 years, however, the bottle was redesigned in late 2020 and began appearing on shelves in December.
But after the issue was brought before the Court of Session in Edinburgh, German-owned Lidl has been temporarily forced to stop selling Hampstead in its new guise.
Lord Clark noted Hampstead was now priced at £15.99 – with the original version having been sold in Lidl for just £9.99. In his written judgment, he noted the pursuers argued: “While a substantial volume of products in the defenders’ stores were private label products (ie own brand), the defenders did stock other big brands in their United Kingdom stores, such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Heinz, Nescafe, Budweiser, Corona, Stella Artois and San Miguel.
“The defenders’ customers were aware that well-known brands can be purchased in the defenders’ supermarkets often at discounted prices in comparison to other retailers.”
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