I was really disappointed to see Oatly were taking Glebe Farms to court - there are petitions circulating, it has not gone down well. Plus there are a plethora of decent Oat mills and barista versions available in every supermarket now. I am personally stopping buying Oatly and will be looking for other up and coming plant-based brands to invest in.
@Cameron made a good point, this is simply another example of IP law being daft. Not a good look but itâs why it happens.
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Oatly have lost their trademark case against Glebe Farm Foods, makers of PureOaty that @Anders mentioned above.
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Maybe they were going for the âpolish off brand corner shopâ look.
Interesting, thanks for that information. I was not aware. Judges comments were fairly clear though.
âIt is hard to see how any relevant confusion would arise from the defendantâs use of the sign âPureOatyâ,â he said.
He concluded: âOn the facts of this case, I do not see that there is any risk of injury to the distinctive character of Oatlyâs marks.â
There appears to have been nothing to defend from a brand PoV. Does that matter in terms of this being evidence of Oatly defending their trade mark in the future? Just trying to weight up the impact here, itâs definitely negative PR and presumably some cost. But anything else?
Not an IP lawyer but Iâm pretty sure thatâs fine, I think just by trying theyâve done enough and the courts have clarified that this instance is different enough.
If Nestle were now to create a product called âOatyâ with very similar branding to Oatly then Oatly could still bring that to court. Had this not occurred then Nestle could turn around and say âwell PureOaty has existed for years and not once did you challenge thatâ. Oatly could still win that, but if they havenât made efforts to defend their mark then my understanding is that it would be harder.
The Claim: âThat big company is a bully for enforcing their trademark against the little guys.â
Unlike copyright holders, trademark holders must enforce their trademark or risk losing their trademark. A trademark, after all, is designed to distinguish the source of a product or service. If a bunch of people are using the same symbol to market a the same product or service, that defeats the entire purpose of a trademark. So it doesnât matter who is infringing upon a person/corporation/other legal entityâs trademark â it could be a multibillion dollar corporation or a nine-year-old child â the trademark older absolutely must enforce that trademark.
10 Things Everyone Gets Wrong About Intellectual Property Law
Clearly there has been some negative PR coming out of this, but I donât really get why, companies have a responsibility to protect their trademarks or risk losing it and we should have faith that courts will come to reasonable conclusions, it seems thatâs exactly whatâs happened here.
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Looks like Oatly lost the copywright case.
https://www.veganfoodandliving.com/news/oatly-loses-court-case-against-glebe-farm/?fbclid=IwAR0HcK6N7rujBXSrIODg9RbpWwsyLJrp1V-m_dcRdWBZ3T5MsU38VNVeOpo
Blockquote[quote=âCameron, post:27, topic:45905, full:trueâ]
Clearly there has been some negative PR coming out of this, but I donât really get why, âŠ
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I think the why is because laymen (like me) donât know what you just explained. Combined with the fact that media (social and other) find that outrage drives engagement. Youâve changed my perspective on this.
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Any idea why this is still dropping- or any indication of when it may rise again? The IP battle may have created bad press but was necessary on some levelâŠ
I would imagine due to the disastrous ER. I think itâs not unlikely Oatly keeps sinking as margins come under pressure, until itâs presumably bought out at a discount and most of the management is jettisoned.
Complete waste on money. Iâve learned never to get involved with celebrity based IPOâs based product. Celebs win, folk like you and me donât. Dosh gone!
Itâs not abnormal for the IPO price to be overvalued - seems like itâs trading at a relatively fair price now but time will tell.
As far as I can see on the street, people love this stuff and especially millennials. I havenât done any proper analysis on the fundamentals but I really like the product (I drink it myself) and from a personal perspective, I really like the brand, and hence from that point of view Iâd be willing to invest. This is going to be a longer buy and hold though.
Iâve tried most of the main oat brands in the supermarket and none of them compete with Oatly from a taste point of view, especially for use with coffee / tea.
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Thanks. Totally respect your comment! Best wishes
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Agree, Oatly Barista is one of the best dairy alternatives Iâve had in my coffee. Tried the MOMA one and it wasnât a patch on Oatly! Been eyeing up the stock for a while now, might invest yet.
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Agreed, Oatly Barista is my go to - itâs amazing in the Hotel Chocolat Velvetiser. Both great products, Iâm not invested but with the amount I consume maybe I should be.
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Oatly Barista is great, but I personally prefer the Alpro Barista one. Give it a try if you havenât.
There definitely are worthy competitors already.
Alpro also now has an Oat/pea protein drink called âThis is Not M*lkâ that tastes exactly like cowâs milk. Sadly they donât seem to sell it in the UK yet. But if youâre interested and find yourself e.g. in the DACH region, itâs worth checking out.
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I guess maybe Iâm an outlier because Iâve never really liked dairy but i donât see any real difference between oatly and the 100 other different oat milks.
I feel a bit like that about beyond meat etc too. Why try and be like meat. Just be your own thing. I donât want an oat milk to taste like dairy. I like it because it doesnât.
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Ooh a slight uplift today⊠anyone know whatâs going on and if we might see it continue?
These are deffo long-term shares!
Wonât surprise me if companies like these go bust or get bought out for pennies.
Not scalable, increasing losses, increasing costs. The negative FCF is shocking. Borrowing just keep increasing. When liquidity dries up, these badly run companies will be first to go bust. Careful out there.
FYI I buy and like Oatly. My point is that having a good product is irrelevant if the company is badly run.
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