German discount supermarket Lidl may have an injunction to stop rival Tesco from copying its logo, London’s High Court has ruled, despite hearing it would cost Tesco nearly £8m to remove them all.
Tesco, Britain’s largest retailer, has lost a lawsuit brought by Lidl in April after Tesco adopted a yellow circle on a blue background to promote its ‘Clubcard Price’ discount scheme.
Lidl then sought an injunction preventing Tesco from infringing its trademark, arguing last month that the order was necessary to prevent Tesco from defrauding consumers.
Tesco’s lawyers argued that it was not necessary to impose an injunction and that its infringement of Lidl’s trademark could be resolved by paying a small amount of damages.
Retailer Chief Legal Officer Ryan Hetherington described in a statement how difficult it will be for Tesco, which he said uses more than 8 million Clubcard logos in its stores, with more advertising online, on television and in print.
This is after Tesco reported a 9 per cent increase in UK sales, with its new chief executive saying there were “encouraging early signs that inflation is starting to ease”.
But Judge Joanna Smith ruled Wednesday that Lidl is entitled to an injunction, which will not be effective until any appeals by Lidl and Tesco have been resolved — both of which said they would challenge her original ruling.
“The only sure way to put an end to the loss incurred by Lidl due to the continued use of (Clubcard Price) signals is to issue a final injunction,” it said.
The judge said Tesco would have nine weeks to remove all Clubcard price logos once the proceedings were over, should Tesco be unsuccessful on appeal.
Tesco declined to comment. Lidl did not immediately respond to a request for comment.