Aldi UK Accused of Copying Diaper Bag, Stroller Shade

Aldi often pushes the envelope when it comes to selling products under its own house-brand names that are clear imitations of more expensive name-brand products. That approach recently caused problems for Aldi UK after it was accused of copying a diaper bag from a United Kingdom-based company as well as copying a stroller shade from a mom entrepreneur. The discount grocery has stopped selling the diaper bag, but no action has been taken regarding sales of the stroller shade.

Aldi stopped selling the diaper bag, called a baby changing bag in the U.K., after BabaBing, a child and baby products company, said Aldi sold a bag in January of 2019 that is similar to one Baba Bing began selling in 2018.

The BabaBing bag sells for £49.99, while Aldi’s bag cost £17.99.

Nick Robinson, managing technical director at BabaBing, said, “It’s no coincidence, the number of features that are identical to ours – it’s not them designing a bag.

“In my view they’ve taken our bag and blatantly copied it.”

Aldi said it is receptive to feedback and is willing to meet with members of the company to talk about the issue. Aldi said its research indicated “similar bags have been on the market for some time” but that it will not sell the product again “without any admission of liability.”

In addition, Aldi recently marketed a stroller shade or pram shade that looks similar to one designed by entrepreneur Cara Sayer. She created her product, the SnoozeShade, 10 years ago for her own baby.

The Aldi sun shade sells for £9.99 while the SnoozeShade sells for £19.99.

Aldi said there were “many other similar products on the market” before it began selling its version of the stroller shade, but Sayer said the Aldi product resembles her SnoozeShade more closely than any other comparable product.

“Its design is identical,” she says. “Other products have been similar but not the same.”

“It’s a bit like Ford creating a car that looks like a Ferrari and putting a Ford badge on it. Ferrari knows what a Ferrari looks like.”

Sayer said Aldi has not responded to her emails, and she does not plan to pursue the issue further, but she expressed displeasure and believes there should be more protections for small businesses against intellectual property infringement.

Sources: BBC News and BBC News

About Rachael

Rachael is the Co-founder of Aldi Reviewer. When she isn't busy shopping at Aldi, she enjoys cooking, gardening, writing gothic romance, and collecting more houseplants than she probably should. You can learn more about her at rachaelsjohnston.com.

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