The English High Court ruled that Tesco’s Clubcard logo copied Lidl’s. Both feature a yellow circle against a blue square background.

Lidl had claimed that Tesco infringed its copyright, allowing it to “take unfair advantage” of Lidl’s “reputation for great value”.

Tesco said it was “disappointed” by the High Court’s ruling and that it would be appealing.

The case began in 2020, when Tesco began using the logo to promote it Clubcard discount scheme. Lidl said the supermarket giant had deliberately copied the style to deceive customers into thinking its prices were comparable to its own.

Judge Joanna Smith said in a written ruling that Tesco had “taken unfair advantage of the distinctive reputation” enjoyed by Lidl. However, she added that Tesco had not been seeking “deliberately to ride on the coat tails of Lidl’s reputation”, as Lidl had argued.

A Lidl spokesperson said: “We are pleased that the court has agreed with us and that it will now order Tesco to stop using the Clubcard logo.”

Tesco said it planned to appeal the ruling, which a spokesperson said was “just about the colour and shape of the Clubcard Prices logo”.

“It has no impact on our Clubcard Prices scheme which we will continue to run in exactly the same way,” the spokesperson said.