The Court of Appeal sided in favour of Thatchers in January after which Aldi announced its intention to appeal the decision.
However, the Supreme Court has now refused Aldi’s request for permission to Appeal the decision. No further details were provided.
Food Manufacture has reached out to Thatchers and Aldi for comment.
Thatchers first brought the claim against Aldi in 2022 after a private label lemon cider product appeared on its shelves two years after Thatchers had brought out its Cloudy Lemon Cider.
The case, which accused Aldi of infringing upon Thatchers’ trade mark, was dismissed by the High Court in January 2024 but following an appeal hearing presided over by Lord Justice Arnold, the Court of Appeal overturned the previous ruling.
Speaking when the Court of Appeal’s decision was announced earlier this year, Martin Thatcher – managing director at Thatchers and the great-grandson of the brand’s founder William Thatcher – said the firm “couldn’t be happier” with the decision.
“[It] vindicates our position that Aldi had taken unfair advantage of the hard work we put in to our cider and brands,” he said.
“This is a victory not just for our family business, but for all businesses whose innovation is stifled by copycats. We’re thrilled the Court of Appeal got to the core of the issue and cleared up any cloudy judgment.”
Meanwhile, Aldi described the Court of Appeal ruling as “wrong”.
“Aldi offers exclusive brands as low-price alternatives to more expensive branded products,” an Aldi spokesperson said.
“The High Court was clear that Aldi customers know what they are buying when they shop with us. We will continue to produce high quality exclusive brands for our customers at unbeatable prices.”
Euan Duncan, a partner in the manufacturing, media and technology team at Morton Fraser MacRoberts LLP, provided more analysis on the decision in a recent piece for Food Manufacture.
