The recent legal battle between Rituals and Aldi over fragrance sticks sparked a lively discussion on LinkedIn, with professionals from different sectors sharing their views on the ruling and its wider implications. The post by Lotte Leek, a lawyer specialising in intellectual property, served as the starting point for a wide range of responses highlighting the complexities of trademark protection, the ethics of product imitation, and the role of pricing in the market value of products.
Olaf Zwijnenburg, a digital retail expert, expressed surprise at the court's concerns about the sales velocity of Aldi's product and the established similarity despite demonstrable differences. His critical questions about the details of the ruling and the judge's specific considerations reflect the concerns of many in the industry about how such legal decisions can affect retail and product innovation.
Emil Goosen, COO at AquaBattery, denounced the amount of time and resources spent debating the protection of scent bottles. His comments highlighted a sense of frustration with priorities within the legal battle over intellectual property, questioning the social value of such conflicts. "A bunch of fragrance sticks in bottles, I don't think design law is here to stay. Come on, the "design of the bottle", it is not a car, refrigerator or aeroplane with innovative design that leads to 20% energy savings.... That so many bright minds with such high hourly rates should be haggling over this doesn't make sense, does it? None of these people who worked on this are going to name protecting the "design of scent bottles" as their 2025 highlight on 31 December this year, no one, absolutely no one.
And quite frankly, I do see differences, the left-hand bottles look sleek, the right ones as if they were hand-shaped. They have a much chunkier pattern. Now they may be inspired by each other, but what are we talking about?", Goosen believes.
Small entrepreneurs
At the other end of the spectrum, Raphael Prins, in his response, highlighted the challenges for small entrepreneurs in navigating the complexity of design registrations and protecting their designs from larger players. This concern reflects a broader discussion about access to protection and equity within the intellectual property law system.
Peter Klein Meuleman, an engineer, gave a critical view on value creation through marketing and the protection of product designs that he believes are not special. His comments highlighted the discrepancy between the efforts of designers and engineers and the profit margins realised through marketing and brand protection.
Gerhard Schmidt and Harco J. Leertouwer raised another important aspect: concerns about sustainability and overconsumption. They highlighted how, regardless of the legal battle over design protection, such products contribute to larger environmental problems and question the real value of these products to society.
The discussion on LinkedIn around the case between Rituals and Aldi offers deep insight into the complex dynamics of intellectual property law, market forces, and the ethical considerations involved in protecting and promoting products in today's consumer market. The differing opinions reflect the diverse interests and perspectives within the industry, from concerns about innovation and fair competition to the impact on sustainability and consumer behaviour.
Source: LinkedIn