The McCambridge bread company has instituted passing-off proceedings against Brennans for allegedly “deliberately mimicking” the packaging of its wholewheat brown bread. McCambridge claims the Brennans packaging has been “clearly derived” from its packaging and it is intended to be confusingly similar to consumers. The claims are denied by Brennans who have also sold wholewheat brown bread for over a decade.

The current McCambridge packaging has been in use for over three years and consists of a resealable plastic bag and dark green background on which there is a picture of wheat and other ingredients, the signature of “John McCambridge” and a description of the product in large text. The Brennans packaging includes a resealable plastic bag, a partially dark green background, a picture of heads of wheat and a description of the product in large text. A large yellow and red “Brennans” logo also appears on the Brennans packaging.

McCambridge has stated that research proves it to be the market leader in traditional bread in Ireland with a 30% market share and sales in 2010 of over €7.6 million.

The outcome of this case will be of keen interest to food companies following the success of the Jacob Fruitfield Food Group in a passing-off action against McVitie’s in relation to the packaging of its fig rolls.

The case will be heard in the Commercial Court on 21 July 2011 and due to the fast-track nature of this court, it is likely that a there will be an outcome in the next couple of months.

Contributed by Carol Plunkett.