Overview

• Mondelez alleges Aldi’s packaging for peanut butter creme-filled cookies, chocolate chip biscuits and Thin Wheat crackers closely imitates the trade dress of Nutter Butter, Chips Ahoy and Wheat Thins.
• The complaint, filed in the Northern District of Illinois, claims Aldi ignored multiple prior cease-and-desist requests despite discontinuing some earlier copycat items.
• Side-by-side images in the filing illustrate similar color schemes, fonts and imagery used by Aldi to trigger potential consumer confusion.
• Mondelez warns that continued sales of the store-brand knockoffs risk brand dilution and irreparable harm.
• Aldi, which operates over 2,400 U.S. stores and plans to open 225 more this year, has not publicly responded to the lawsuit.