Lidl continues to be talked about, but this time not for the sold out of its products. Indeed, quite the opposite. This time the protagonist is the similar to Lidl's Thermomix. The supermarket chain was convicted by a Barcelona court for marketing a food processor that infringes the patent rights of the Thermomix, one of Vorwerk's best-known and best-loved household appliances.
Lidl will have to withdraw its robot from the Spanish market Mr. Connect Kitchen, which cannot even be exported elsewhere. A heavy decision, which the court motivated by referring above all to the Thermomix food weighing function, which allows you to "weigh with the machine running, with the container closed and working with the lid, and with the machine stopped but on". By reproducing this functionality, Lidl would have officially infringed the patent filed by Vorwerk.
Lidl: Thermomix copied with Monsieur Cuisine robot
Although the sentence has come now, the dispute between Lidl and Vorwerk started in 2018. That same year, the supermarket chain started selling its low cost food processor. In no time at all, the Silvercrest Monsieur Cuisine Connect was an incredible success. And the increase in sales was immediately noticed by competitors, including Vorwerk, which filed the Thermomix patent back in 2008. On the other hand, the company must not have taken long to understand that the product was nothing more than a copy. of Lidl's Thermomix, and presented the first complaint on 14 June 2019.
Since there is all the evidence for the infringement of patent rights, including a copy of one of the most characteristic features of the Thermomix, the Barcelona Court sentenced Lidl to “cease importing, storing, offering and / or marketing the Monsieur Cuisine Connect machine“. And also to "withdraw from the market all copies of the machine object of the action that are in its possession and that of its distributors, as well as all commercial documents, advertising and promotional material or other documents in which this product is reproduced, including the Internet, proceeding to its destruction at its expense “.
And that's not all. The supermarket chain is also required to "refrain from now on from the import, storage, offer and marketing of kitchen machines that meet the characteristics claimed in patent ES 2 301 589 T3". And to "compensate the plaintiff Vorwerk for the damage caused, with the scope to be determined in the execution phase of this sentence". So far, however, nothing has yet been known about the actual amount of damages. And for its part, Lidl has not yet issued any statement. Except for a press release sent to a French newspaper. Here we read that the “court decision is only linked to Spanish territory and does not apply to France [and other European countries]. Only Lidl Spain is affected by this ruling “.
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This could mean that the supermarket chain is intent on selling its food processor in other countries. But are we really sure that the sentence does not negatively affect the sales of Lidl's Thermomix? We will only find out in the coming months.
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