Weet-bix versus Weetabix stoush hits High Court

Monday, 30 July 2018

With a shipment of Weetabix being held hostage in customs, Stuff decided to have a cereal taste-off to see what the fuss is all about.

Breakfast cereal boxes are set out on a table in Christchurch's High Court where Weet-bix has taken legal action to protect its brand.

The cereal giant Sanitarium is taking civil action against the shops A Little Bit of Britain, which operate in Riccarton, Kaiapoi and online, over its importation of boxes of British breakfast cereal Weetabix.

The similarity of the names Weet-Bix for the Sanitarium product, and Weetabix for the British product is at the heart of the hearing before Justice David Gendall.

A Christchurch mini-mart owners is going head-to-head with Sanitarium over the trade mark of Weet-Bix and Weetabix and says there is no way customers could get the two confused.

Various cereal boxes have been placed on the bench at the witness box where company officials are expected to give evidence over the next few days.

Sanitarium is trying to establish that the name infringes its trademark. In submissions to Justice Gendall, it said that substituting an 'a' for a hyphen hardly changed the mark at all.

Lisa Wilson, owner of a British goods store, faces a trademark stoush with Sanitarium over an importation of Weetabix.

It also submitted that the similarities could lead to a significant level of confusion among ordinary consumers.

The hearing involves civil action taken by the Australasian Conference Association Ltd and others against A Little Bit of Britain Ltd and others.

Sanitarium, which makes Weet-Bix, is trying to prevent boxes of Weetabix being imported from the UK.

A date for the hearing was originally set for 2017, but the case was put off to begin today.

Imports of the Weetabix consignment were stopped at the border and Lisa Wilson, who runs the A Little Bit of Britain shops, was told that a High Court ruling was required to release them.