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SYDNEY, Dec. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- In a legal first in Australia, founder-owned baby and snack food brand, Little Bellies, a brand owned by Every Bite Counts has set an important precedent in their win on copyright infringement claim against supermarket giant Aldi.
During proceedings, Aldi testimony stated that their process in designing the artwork for their private label packaging was to choose a leading brand as the benchmark from which to reference. In the case of the design of their baby snacking portfolio, it was admitted that Little Bellies was the benchmark. This case is therefore novel in that it is the first claim of copyright infringement against Aldi in Australia, in which Justice Moshinsky found that various Aldi packaging infringed artistic works of Little Bellies' cornerstone range of children's snack food products.
The Little Bellies brand was founded in Australia by two brothers after one of their own children were diagnosed with severe food sensitives and is now the market leader in its segment. This case represented much more than "copying the vibe" of packaging and rather, speaks to everything the company has worked so hard to represent through their brand image and messaging. On receiving the ruling, Little Bellies co-founder and managing director, Clive Sher has said "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."
Little Bellies is further vindicated by the award of additional punitive damages in favour of their business, focusing on punishing the infringer for particularly egregious behaviour.
Justice Moshinsky said:
"…I am satisfied that Aldi deliberately developed packaging for the MAMIA baby puffs products that resembled the packaging of the 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. I consider Aldi's conduct to be flagrant. Further, I consider that an award of additional damages is appropriate to deter similar infringements of copyright." - Hampden Holdings I.P. Pty Ltd v Aldi Foods Pty Ltd [2024] FCA 1452, 231-232
For further information or commentary, please contact:
Little Bird PR, Lucy Brooks - [email protected]
EBC Co-founder and Managing Director, Clive Sher - [email protected]
