ALDI LEGAL BATTLE CONTINUES FOR COMPANY
A NORTH Wales toy firm remains in a legal dispute with supermarket giant Aldi over a wooden climbing frame.
Triclimb is a collaboration between Porthmadog based ethical toy firm Babipur and Rainbow Box - and its best selling product is the Triclimb Pikler Triangle.
But they were left fuming this September when Aldi listed wooden ‘Tri-Climb’ frames as part of its weekly ‘Specialbuys’ offers.
After a furore over the move Aldi said the product would not go on sale.
But now Aldi has brought back the wooden climbing frame – although no longer under the name ‘Tri-Climb’ as previously listed.
It is down as the Little Town Wooden Climbing Triangle and priced at £60 – compared to the Welsh produced Triclimb frames which retail for around £200.
Aldi – who have recently been in high profile battles with M&S over caterpillar chocolate cakes – say they are doing nothing wrong and wooden climbing frames are “widely available”.
But Anti Copying in Design (ACID) are taking up the case.
Dids Macdonald, CEO of ACID, said: “For small, design-led companies this type of lookalike issue and blatant IP infringement are almost impossible to deal with when pitted against retail behemoths, most of all I hope we can negotiate some sort of licence deal and compensation that will reward Triclimb for the design and innovation in their registered design, protected by a UK trade mark.”
An Aldi spokesperson said: “At Aldi we aim to provide our customers with products of a similar quality to the leading brands, but at a fraction of the price.
“Wooden climbing frames such as this are widely available in the market.”
Christine Dunsford, the creator of Triclimb, said: “I am heartbroken.
“Dreaming, designing, prototyping to revolutionise the traditional frame.”
She attacked the ‘Like Brands, Only Cheaper’ attitude.
She added: “Those brands have real people behind them, families and work that goes into building them.”
Jolene Barton, from Babipur, said: “They removed the name Triclimb but we feel the damage has been done by advertising it as a Triclimb in the first place.
“Some of the reviews (online) are obviously referencing our brand which is heartbreaking, as it shows they’ve truly ridden on our coat tails.”
ACID have written to Aldi’s Buying Director to ask for a meeting to discuss the issue further.