Oatly has lost its trade mark and passing off case against Glebe Farm, a new supplier of oat-based drinks. The court held that there was not a sufficient likelihood of confusion amongst the public between the names Oatly and PureOaty nor between the different packaging. It also looked at the creative process and decided that Glebe had not looked to gain an unfair advantage from Oatly.

This case has attracted a lot of press and public interest - both because of the obvious differences in packaging, and because Oatly is the self-described “world’s original and largest oat drink company,” and Glebe Farm is a much smaller British supplier. 

This is a decision that will surprise very few IP lawyers - Oatly was always going to struggle to show that the name and packaging used by Glebe Farm would cause confusion.