Discounter Aldi has sued rival Tesco in Ireland over an alleged infringement of its trademarks used by Tesco in an in-store campaign.
The case, which has this week been transferred to the Commercial Court in Dublin, involves alleged “inaccurate, misleading and unfair” comparison of the prices of products sold by the two retailers, according to Irish reports.
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Aldi claims Tesco has “failed to compare like with like”, “mis-stated” the sale price of the relevant Aldi or Tesco product, and “failed to compare” the relevant quantity of the Tesco product with an equivalent Aldi product.
According to the Irish Times, Aldi said the recent use of its trademark in banners displayed in Tesco stores was “the final straw” in circumstances where Aldi had been complaining to Tesco of infringement of its marks since 2009.
It is understood Aldi had previously reported the matter to the National Consumer Agency and the Advertising Standards Authority in Ireland.
Tesco confirmed the legal case to just-food but declined to comment beyond that. Aldi declined to comment on the case.
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By GlobalDataMeanwhile, Michael McDowell SC, Aldi’s attorney, said the trademark proceedings were at “a very preliminary stage”.
