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ARTICLE · 07 SEPTEMBER 2021

Be Careful When You Choose Your Brand Names!

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In this article Monika Colak and Philippe Benjamin Skow tell about how Oatly lost a case against PureOaty.

DenmarkIntellectual Property
Monika Colak
Monika Colak
Philippe Benjamin Skow
Philippe Benjamin Skow
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Swedish oat milk giant Oatly has lost a controversial legal battle over trademarks in the UK. The High Court in London dismissed Oatly's trademark infringement case regarding the drink "PureOaty" owned by the small British firm Glebe Farm Foods.

The market and parties

Oat milk is among the fastest-selling plant-based products. Oatly was recently listed in New York with a market capitalisation of more than $10bn. Oatly is the market leader within oat-milk products, its "barista edition" being the best-seller. 80% of Oatly's sales are via grocery accounts such as supermarkets. Cambridgeshire-based Glebe Farm Foods is run by a brother and sister. It specialises in gluten-free oats and sells its own labelled products online and via retailers such as Amazon. In addition, it supplies to e.g. Kellogs and Unilever. The drink "Oat Drink" was launched in 2019, but rebranded to "PureOaty" in 2020.

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