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Sydney-based baby food brand Little Bellies has become the first company in Australia to win a copyright infringement case against supermarket giant Aldi, which was found to have copied the brand’s designs and packaging for its organic and vegetable puff snacks.
Founded in 2007 by brothers Clive and Steven Sher, Little Bellies was created after one of the founders' children was diagnosed with severe food sensitivities, which made finding safe snacking options incredibly difficult.
The brand sells Little Bellies in Australia and New Zealand while also serving markets in the US, Canada, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Europe and South Africa.
The holding company that owns the intellectual property for Baby Bellies, Little Bellies and Mighty Bellies snack ranges is Hampden Holdings IP, which alleged Aldi had ripped off its Organic Blueberry Puffs, Organic Apple & Cinnamon Puffs and Organic Carrot Puffs since August 2021.
During the trial, Aldi stated that the design process for its private label packaging was to select a leading brand as the benchmark to reference. In the case of its baby-snacking portfolio, it was admitted that Little Bellies was the benchmark it was aiming to meet.
"Three years ago, we launched proceedings. We incurred significant costs, had to commit to many hours of preparation under immense pressure. This is a landmark court case for Australia in a true David v Goliath story,” Sher said.
UK-based beverage maker Thatchers Cider is currently in a legal battle with Aldi, suing the company for allegedly infringing on its trademark for cloudy lemon cider. Although the High Court in London dismissed the case, Thatchers has decided to appeal the ruling.
This is not the first time Aldi has faced legal challenges. In 2001, the supermarket giant was sued by US snack food giant Frito-Lay over its Cheezy Twists, which allegedly breached the Twisties trademark. While Frito-Lay won the initial case in Federal Court, Aldi successfully appealed and had the decision overturned later that year.
In 2015, Israeli cosmetics brand Moroccanoil also took Aldi to court over alleged trademark violations involving its Moroccan Argan Oil hair care range. The company lost both the initial case and its appeal.
In the most recent copyright case, Justice Moshinsky ruled that Aldi had intentionally developed packaging for its Mamia baby puffs products that closely resembled the packaging of Little Bellies’ puffs products.
“Aldi sought to use for its own commercial advantage the designs that had been developed by a trade rival. Although Aldi may have intended, if possible, to avoid infringement and legal liability, it took the risk that its use of the Bellies designs would exceed what the law allows,” Moshinsky said.
“I consider Aldi's conduct to be flagrant."
In handing down the decision, Justice Moshinsky ruled that Little Bellies would also be awarded additional punitive damages.
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