Farmer wins in ‘David v Goliath’ battle with Oatly

A Cambridgeshire farmer has won his court battle with Swedish oat-based drink maker Oatly over an alleged trademark infringement.

Dubbed as a “David and Goliath” battle, Oatly sought an injunction to stop Glebe Farm Foods selling its PureOaty brand after claiming it is too similar to its own Oatly label.

But Glebe Farm Foods denied the claims, with farmer and business owner Philip Rayner suggesting his brand’s name is simply a nod to the purity of the product.

See also: Oatly sues Glebe Farm Foods over PureOaty brand

In his judgment delivered on Thursday 5 August, Nicholas Caddick QC dismissed all of Oatly’s claims of trademark infringement.

In a statement, Oatly said it accepted the court’s decision, would not be making an appeal, and wished Glebe Farm “total success in their plant-based journey moving forward”.

The victory for Glebe Farm followed a two-day trial at London’s High Court in June.

The hearing examined wide-ranging aspects of alleged relevant intellectual property, including choice of language and typefaces, the use of the colour blue and the detail of a coffee cup appearing on the PureOaty pack.

© Kristine Blokhin/Adobe Stock and Glebe Farm Foods

The judge found that there was no likelihood of confusion between the PureOaty name and look of the carton, and any of the Oatly trademarks.

Judge Caddick also ruled against Oatly’s allegation that Glebe Farm intended to gain some unfair advantage.

‘Enormously gratifying’

Commenting on the ruling, Mr Rayner said: “It is enormously gratifying that the judge has ruled in our favour, and to see that smaller, independent companies can fight back and win.

“We have had the threat of this court case – which has pitched our challenger brand against Oatly’s multinational business – looming over us for more than a year.

“We have always felt certain that we have done nothing wrong, and we were determined to fight Oatly’s claims that our brands were similar – something that is now proven to be wrong.”

Mr Rayner added: “All of us at Glebe Farm are excited to put this matter behind us now so we can focus our time on serving our loyal customers and the British public with pure, sustainable oats and oat milk without corporate lawsuits distracting from our day-to-day priorities.”

Mr Rayner runs the farm near Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, with his sister, Rebecca. The farm grows and processes gluten-free oats into porridge flakes, oat flour and oat drink.