Sisters accuse ALDI of selling bear that copied their small business
German giant ALDI is being accused of trying to cash-in on the success of an Aussie startup by selling a copy of their version of a teddy bear at a fraction of the price.
Sisters Pru and Sarah took a leap of faith launching the business back in 2001.
And since then they have sold 500,000 of their bears.
READ MORE: Aussie men speak out about changing their behaviour towards women
Sisters Pru and Sarah took a leap of faith launching the business back in 2001. Nine
But now ALDI has released a very similar bear for a much cheaper price.
"Our Flatout bear retails for around $74 and the Aldi one is $14.99," Pru said.
But the original is made of 100 per cent sheepskin, hand cut and hand sewn.
But trademark lawyer Will Hird said there's little they can do.
"There's no intellectual property rights that are protecting that product," Hird said.
ALDI has released a very similar bear for a much cheaper price. Nine
"It can make it a lot easier for those companies to come in and start copying that product."
For the Flatout bear, only the name and logo are protected. The cost of global trademark... just too high.
Aldi says they sourced the flat bears from a local supplier and they're not exclusive to their stores.
A Current Affair reached out to the supplier and has not heard back.
Full ALDI statement:
ALDI respects intellectual property law, taking any allegations against this seriously. We pride ourselves on sourcing products that our customers seek.
The Snugtime Flat Bear and Booties Gift Set was sourced by ALDI from a local supplier and is not exclusive to ALDI, with a number of similar products on the market.
To date, ALDI has not received notice of any claims of IP infringement in relation to the 'FLATOUTbear' product.
We’d love to hear from you
