Iron Brew in ‘soundalike’ battle

Irn Bru brand owner AG Barr was hoping for an out-of-court settlement this week in a copycat packaging row with supermarket group Lidl over its Iron Brew soft drink.

The writ alleges that Lidl’s Iron Brew features similar coloured packaging to Irn Bru, as well as a “soundalike” name. AG Barr wants to stop the sale of Iron Brew and to obtain damages and a proportion of profits from Lidl’s sale of the own-brand.

Lidl’s purchasing director Martin Kottbauer declines to comment on the case or name Iron Brew’s packaging designer. But the retailer is also thought to be keen to settle the matter out-of-court.