Swedish oat milk brand, Oatly, have filed a claim against drink supplier Glebe Farm Foods, claiming that their PureOaty brand infringes on its Oatley and Oat-ly! Trademarks.
The court documents state that Oatly “seek an injunction to restrain the defendant from infringing any of the claimants’ registered trademarks and the passing off of the defendant’s goods as or for the goods of the claimants”.
Glebe Farm Foods joint MD Philip Rayner says the firm were surprised by Oatly actions and that it would be contested.
“Although Oatly are much bigger than us, we do not believe we have done anything wrong,” he added. “And aside from fighting their claim as it is, there are deeper principles at play here for us as a family farming business in wanting to challenge back.”
This news follows Oatly’s market debut last month, which saw the firm’s share price rocket to $26.99 per share!
Questions about this
Why did Oatly bring a claim against Glebe Farm Foods?
Oatly claimed that Glebe Farm Foods’ PureOaty brand infringed its registered trademarks, and sought an injunction to stop the alleged infringement and passing off. Glebe Farm Foods, a family farming business, said it was surprised by the action, did not believe it had done anything wrong and would contest the claim, pointing to deeper principles it wanted to challenge.
Answered by Jonathan Paton, Founder & CEOHow is it decided whether two brand names are confusingly similar?
Similarity is judged on the names as a whole, not by a shared fragment, and the goods or services involved matter as much as the words. The question is whether an ordinary customer might connect the two. A word that simply describes what is being sold, such as a main ingredient, is not something any one business gets to own on its own.
Answered by Jonathan Paton, Founder & CEO
