M&S takes legal action against Aldi over Colin the Caterpillar cake

Marks & Spencer has started legal action against Aldi over the supermarket’s rival Cuthbert the Caterpillar cake infringing its signature Colin the Caterpillar.

M&S have lodged an intellectual property claim with the High Courts this week and say their similarity leads consumers to believe they are of the same standard and “rides on the coat-tails” of M&S’s reputation.

M&S wants Aldi to remove the product from sale and agree not to sell anything similar in the future.

A spokesman said: “We want to protect Colin, Connie and our reputation for freshness, quality, innovation and value”.

The product was launched around 30 years ago, and Colin’s appearance has been substantially unchanged since 2004 except for festive adaptations.