Tesco must change loyalty card logo after Lidl lawsuit
TESCO must change its Clubcard logo after losing a legal battle against rival supermarket Lidl.
The decision from the Court of Appeal draws a line under a long-running dispute between the retailers, as Lidl sued Tesco in 2020 over a trademark infringement.
Lidl took action in response to Tesco’s decision to promote its “Clubcard
Prices” discount scheme by using a yellow circle against a blue background.
The German discounter accused Britain’s largest retailer of trying “to ride on the coattails of Lidl’s reputation”.
The Court of Appeal yesterday upheld a decision from the High Court, which previously found that Tesco had taken “unfair advantage” of Lidl’s reputation for low prices.
At the time, Tesco said it would cost as much as £8m to comply with the ruling. However, Tesco is not expected to appeal against the latest decision and is understood to be updating its Clubcard prices logo in the coming weeks.
The Clubcard scheme now has more than 20m users and is integral to Tesco’s strategy to attract more shoppers.
Yesterday’s judgment found that Lidl’s logo, which is a yellow circle with a red outline on a blue background, “had become distinctive”.
A panel of three judges ruled that the Clubcard prices logo would bring the Lidl equivalent “to mind”, adding: “Tesco could easily have used a different sign to promote Clubcard prices.”
A Tesco spokesman said the supermarket was “disappointed” with the judgment but stressed that any changes to its logo would not affect the scheme’s prices.
Tesco had previously alleged that “some of the Lidl trademarks” were liable to be declared invalid on the grounds that they were “registered in bad faith”, or should be revoked because they had “no distinctive character”.
A Lidl spokesman said the supermarket was “delighted” that the Court of Appeal had agreed Tesco’s use of its Clubcard logo “is unlawful,” adding: “We expect Tesco now to respect the court’s decision and change its Clubcard logo to one that is not designed to look like ours.”