Marks and Spencer and Aldi have settled their long-running Colin the Caterpillar cake legal row.
The supermarkets were at loggerheads after M&S launched legal action against the budget retailer, claiming Aldi’s Cuthbert the Caterpillar cake is too similar to Colin.
Marks wanted to pull Cuthbert from shelves after saying the cake infringes the trademark of Colin and "rides on the coat-tails" of its reputation.
The food giant had gone on to claim that the similarity of both products leads customers to believe they are of the same standard.
But both supermarkets confirmed on Tuesday that a deal has now been struck, ending their legal dispute.
Deputy Master Timothy John Bowles signed off an agreement in a consent order filed at the High Court on Thursday.
The order, first reported by The Telegraph, allowed the claim to be withdrawn and said the retailers had reached a "confidential agreement" in November.
An M&S spokesman said: "The objective of the claim was to protect the IP (intellectual property) in our Colin the Caterpillar cake and we are very pleased with the outcome."
An Aldi spokesperson said: "Cuthbert is free and looking forward to seeing all his fans again very soon."
M&S lodged an intellectual property claim with the High Court in April 2021.
Do you prefer Colin or Cuthbert? Let us know in the comments below.
Aldi then started selling Cutherbert the Caterpillar cake again the following month, in May 2021, after making changes to its design.
In the months that followed, the budget retailer went on to mock M&S in a series of tongue-in-cheek tweets that branded the supermarket “Marks and Snitches”.
It also launched a #FreeCuthbert social media campaign, and in one tweet said: “This is not just any court case, this is... #FreeCuthbert.”
Both supermarkets are involved in a separate copyright dispute over allegations that Aldi copied the M&S "light-up" gin liqueur.
In court papers, M&S argues the designs of Aldi’s gold flake clementine gin liqueur and gold flake blackberry gin liqueur are “strikingly similar” to its own.
The papers include registered design images of M&S's Light Up gin.
A list of features M&S says are protected include the shape of the bottle, an integrated light feature, gold leaf flakes and a winter forest graphic.
The M&S spokesman added: "Like many other UK businesses, large and small, we know the true value and cost of innovation and the enormous time, passion, creativity, energy and attention to detail, that goes into designing, developing and bringing a product to market and building its brand over many years.
"So it is understandable that we want to defend our intellectual property and protect our suppliers - many of them small businesses that have worked with us for decades."
