M&S finds itself on the wrong end of a Lacoste lawsuit
Lacoste is suing Marks & Spencer, alleging that the UK retailer copied its crocodile logo on a range of clothing and home accessories.
Lacoste sues M&S
According to Bloomberg, a suit was filed in London requesting that M&S cease all advertising and selling of the goods.
Lacoste said in the filing that M&S “had no due cause to adopt branding which is likely to cause confusion, to give it an unfair marketing boost”.
However, M&S refused to comply.
Lacoste has now requested an injunction against the chain and an order to destroy all items featuring the crocodile at its own expense.
It sees M&S on the other side of a lawsuit after taking legal action against Aldi twice last year. It tried – and ultimately failed – to sue the German retail over allegations it copied its Colin the Caterpillar cake with a similarly named ‘Cuthbert’.
It took the supermarket chain to court again at Christmas when it reproduced its glitter globe gin.
At the time, M&S told the Financial Times it knows ”the true value and cost of innovation” and “will always seek to protect our reputation for freshness, quality, innovation and value and protect our customers from obvious copies”.
However, responding to the Lacoste lawsuit, M&S said in a statement: “Animal prints are incredibly popular with our customers and last season selected ranges included decorative crocodile patterns.
“All of these products were created independently of any other retailer and we’re confident are unique to M&S and will robustly defend against the claim.”