Yahoo Sports M&S ends dispute with Swizzels over Percy Pig ‘lookalikes’
Marks & Spencer has agreed to end a dispute with the confectionery company Swizzels after accusing it of copying its Percy Pig sweets.
Swizzels, which makes Drumstick lollies and Parma Violets, said it would redesign its “Pig Mugs” sweets which it has been making since 1996, following a six-month battle with M&S.
The high street retailer said it had reached an “amicable solution” with Swizzels, but refused to provide further details of the settlement.
A spokesman for M&S said: “M&S has a proud history as a leading innovator and for almost 140 years customers have turned to M&S for unique, original, quality products – conceived, created and developed alongside trusted suppliers and produced to the highest standards.
“M&S has made a significant investment in building a strong Percy Pig brand over the past 30 years and believe it is important to protect the registered trademarks relating to Percy Pig’s appearance.”
Lawyers for M&S said in November last year that the Pigs Mugs sweets were so similar to Percy Pigs that shoppers may buy the Swizzels brand by accident.
In a 37-page document filed at the High Court, the retailer’s lawyers said that its sweets were so popular that one customer had got a tattoo of Percy’s face. M&S estimates that it sells around 270 bags of its sweets per minute.
Meanwhile, Swizzels had argued that the trademark registered by M&S was such poor quality that the face “looks more like a teddy bear than a pig”.
Swizzels, which is based in Derbyshire, has been making sweets since 1928, and also makes lines including Refreshers and Parma Violets.
The settlement marks the latest legal battle M&S has embarked on in recent years.
In February 2022 the company settled a copyright row with Aldi over its Colin the Caterpillar cake after the German discounter altered the appearance of its lookalike version, Cuthbert the Caterpillar. In February, Aldi lost a year-long court battle with Marks & Spencer over ‘copycat’ gin bottles that featured LED lights.
Swizzels declined to comment.
