Nador Cott Protection says agreement reached with UK retailer over “unauthorised” sale of Tang Gold after cease and desist letters sent earlier this year
Nador Cott Protection (NCP) has announced that it has reached an agreement with UK retailer Sainsbury’s over what NCP has long argued is the “unauthorised” sale of Tang Gold mandarins in its stores.
NCP said it was “pleased to announce that they have settled their litigation before the English High Court (claim no. HP-2024-000001) on the basis that Sainsbury’s has changed its product specification and will remove Tang Gold from sale pending the outcome of other proceedings concerning Tang Gold and/or Nadorcott.”
The agreement comes after the EU Courts last month rejected the nullity application filed by Eurosemillas against the community protection of Nadorcott, as well as decisions by the EU and international authorities.
NCP said these decisions “serve to support the view that Tang Gold is a variety essentially derived from Nadorcott and, therefore, an infringement of Nadorcott, as well as the decisions of the Community Plant Variety Office which indicate that only two differences - related to fertility - exist between Tang Gold and Nadorcott”.
Litigation against Sainsbury’s had been initiated after the NCP sent cease and desist letters to various supermarkets across Europe earlier this year.
At the time, NCP’s Mohamed Benbiga had said: “Over the course of several years, we have been firm and clear that we will not slow our efforts to defend the Nadorcott variety. The legal action we have now launched against one of the largest supermarket retailers in the UK is our most determined signal yet that we will not permit the breach of our rights to go unchallenged.”
NCP said it would continue to defend its exclusive rights to Nadorcott and “reserves the right to take all appropriate measures to prevent unauthorised exploitation of its intellectual property in all relevant jurisdictions”.
