Glebe Farm wins infringement claim court case against Oatly

Glebe Farm, a British oat producer and maker of oak milk PureOaty, has won a legal case against Oatly on trademark infringement.

Glebe Farm challenged the legal case brought against it by Swedish oat drink producer Oatly for trademark infringement and "passing off" its brand as Oatly. The judge dismissed Oatly’s claims.

Phillip Rayner, owner and managing director of Glebe Farm said: “We have had the threat of this court case – which has pitched our challenger brand against Oatly’s multinational business – looming over us for more than a year. We have always felt certain that we have done nothing wrong, and we were determined to fight Oatly’s claims that our brands were similar – something that is now proven to be wrong.

“You only need to look at the two products and packaging side by side to appreciate how different these brands are, and how unnecessary this legal action was. We greatly appreciate the huge support that PureOaty and Glebe Farm have received from around the world, including 130,000 signatures on a change.org petition; and many comments online have described this as a true David and Goliath battle.”

“It is enormously gratifying that the judge has ruled in our favour, and to see that smaller independent companies can fight back and win. The facts are that we have never wanted to be an Oatly clone. Pride in our own product aside, as British farmers we do not agree with any brand that comes across as anti-farming in its approach.

Rayner added: “There is room in a growing category for alternatives. We’d like to think growth opportunities come from positivity in broadening sector choice, rather than from trying to shut things down and limiting consumer options.

“All of us at Glebe Farm are excited to put this matter behind us now so we can focus our time on serving our loyal customers and the British public with pure, sustainable oats and oat milk without corporate lawsuits distracting from our day-to-day priorities.”