Oreo maker Mondelez sues Aldi, alleging grocery chain copies its packaging to confuse customers
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Monthly Digital Subscription
$1 per week for 24 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $4.00 plus GST every four weeks. After 24 weeks, price increases to the regular rate of $19.00 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
Monthly Digital Subscription
$4.75/week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $19 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $16.99 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $23.99 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Snack food maker Mondelez International is suing the Aldi supermarket chain, alleging the packaging for Aldi’s store-brand cookies and crackers “blatantly copies” Mondelez products like Chips Ahoy, Wheat Thins and Oreos.
In a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday in Illinois, Chicago-based Mondelez said Aldi’s packaging was “likely to deceive and confuse customers” and threatened to irreparably harm Mondelez and its brands. The company is seeking monetary damages and a court order that would stop Aldi from selling products that infringe on its trademarks.
Aldi didn’t respond to messages seeking comment. The U.S. branch of Aldi, which is based in Batavia, Illinois, was named in the lawsuit.
In the lawsuit, Mondelez displayed side-by-side photos of multiple products. Aldi’s Thin Wheat crackers, for example, come in a gold box very similar to Mondelez’s Wheat Thins. Aldi’s chocolate sandwich cookies and Oreos both have blue packaging. The supermarket’s Golden Round crackers and Mondelez’s Ritz crackers are packaged in red boxes.
Aldi, which was founded in Germany, keeps prices low by primarily selling products under its own labels. It’s one of the fastest-growing grocery chains in the U.S., with more than 2,500 stores in 39 states. On Friday, the company announced that its current chief operating officer, Atty McGrath, would become Aldi’s U.S. CEO on Sept. 1.
The chain has faced lawsuits over its packaging before. Last year, an Australian court found that Aldi infringed on the copyright of Baby Bellies snack puffs for young children. In that case, Aldi’s packaging featured a cartoon owl and similar colors to the name-brand packaging.
Earlier this year, a U.K. appeals court ruled in favor of Thatchers, a cider company, which sued Aldi over design similarities in the packaging of its lemon cider.
Mondelez said in its lawsuit that the company had contacted Aldi on numerous occasions about “confusingly similar packaging.” Mondelez said Aldi discontinued or changed the packaging on some items but continued to sell others.
The lawsuit also alleges that Aldi infringed on Mondalez’s trade dress rights for the packaging of Nutter Butter and Nilla Wafers cookies, and its Premium cracker brand.