Aldi's Cuthbert by Holly Lane is almost an exact copy of Colin
hence Aldi are being taken to court...
The face is almost identical, white face, chocolate eyes, similar ears/antenna etc...
Yes imho it is nigh on a very close clone or copy of Colin - way closer than the others
Sainsbury's shows a number of similarities, white face chocolate eyes
but the face is different along with ears/antenna
and body has a dusting over it of sprinkles, so there are a few subtle differences over Colin
Waitrose is very similar to Sainsburys, but eyes are different
The others are not such close copies of M&S Colin, so unlikely to hold up in court
Aldi have closely copied the M&S Colin, a little too close when producing their own cheaper cake
(Think it was the cheaper price of £4:99 & it being almost a clone of Colin that M&S took action)
Unsure if say Lidl produce a caterpillar cake though, but M&S decided to action of Aldi's clone
You can see the cakes here:
https://www.acumenbusinesslaw.co.uk/2021/04/16/colin-v-cuthbert-the-case-of-caterpillar-cakes/
Vaping had a similar thing with other generic juices closely copying the juice & branding of Vampire Vapes'
Heisenberg & Red Astair etc...
Though most clones had a cease & desist order, especially when using the brand name to pass off etc...
Music industry had the cases of chords being used in other songs without license/permission
Similar thing with Colin Vs Cuthbert - tbh I think the emulation is too close to claim Aldi's product
is not infringing some sort of property/design/copyright theft or claim
It's advertising all the same so both M&S & Aldi will enjoy the publicity perhaps
Personally I think Aldi need to alter the appearance of Cuthbert a bit more
(perhaps milk chocolate face with white eyes & market it for minorities & POC or some woke crap)
I'm not proud, we shop at Aldi, Lidl, Iceland, Tesco, Waitrose, sometimes Sainsburys
But I wish M&S success in protecting Colin & the branding they built up (I really do)
Yet I like competition, but fair competition, often back the underdog - yet this is a bit too close imho
Nah - I'm backing M&S on this, no silly figures of settlement, just ensure Aldi alter their own product
Also M&S deliver free meal deals - sandwiches, drink, crisps etc.. on a Friday to Vaccine centres near me
(even telling other staff to pop in for it on the days off if they are passing)
so kudos to M&S when I was informed of this recently, plus imho Aldi are taking the piss a bit too closely