Asda and its fresh fruit operation IPL has been accused of the unauthorised selling of mandarin oranges sourced from a protected variety owned by Nadorcott Protection (NCP).
The French company said the retailer’s stocking of Tang Gold mandarins infringed its exclusive Nadorcott plant breeding rights.
NCP argued the essential characteristics of Tang Gold mandarins were a direct result of the Nadorcott strain, and made it a dependent variety as it was reliant on cross-pollination.
Tang Gold was therefore “materially identical” to its protected strain and was not a distinct variety at all – in breach of NCP’s intellectual property rights for the Nadorcott variety.
NCP initially contacted nine major retailers in the UK in 2023 to warn them over the “unauthorised sale” of Tang Gold or Tango manadrins.
The Asda case, lodged with the Patents Court last month, is the second to be taken to court against a UK retailer after it commenced proceedings against Sainsbury’s in January 2024.
Last October, NCP and Sainsbury’s settled the dispute on the basis that Sainsbury’s would change its product specification and remove Tang Gold from sale, pending the outcome of other proceedings concerning Tang Gold and/or Nadorcott.
This new infringement action represents an intensification of NCP’s efforts to protect its rights in the Nadorcott variety, the company said.
NCP has said it would “continue to defend its exclusive rights” to the Nadorcott mandarin, and “reserves the right to take all appropriate measures to prevent unauthorised exploitation of its intellectual property in all relevant jurisdictions”.
Asda declined to comment.
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