Lidl was forced to withdraw from the market the food processors that are sold under the SilverCrest brand, for infringing the Thermomix patent

The Commercial Court in Barcelona ordered the multinational company Lidl to withdraw the food processors from the Spanish market, sold by SilverCrest brand under the name of “Monsieur Cuisine Connect”, because it was considered an infringement of the Thermomix patent in this country.

In its judgment, the court concluded that the manufacturer Thermomix, under the Vorwerk company, has full protection for the characteristics of its food processors in Spain, and considered that the defendant in this dispute, Lidl, contravened the characteristics of the manufacturer Thermomix in their food processors, Monsieur Cuisine.

In a ruling released on Tuesday, Jan. 19, Barcelona’s specialized patent court ruled in favor of Vorwerk, considering that the sale of the Lidl food processor “constitutes an infringement of the exclusive rights deriving from the Spanish Patent.” ES 2 301 589, validation in Spain of the European patent EP 1 269 898” held by the applicant company.

The Commercial Court no. 5 in Barcelona considers that the patent for the food processor produced by Vorwek is valid because it meets the requirements of “novelty and inventiveness”, while the Lidl robot “reproduces each of the features” from Thermomix, so by selling it, German supermarkets perform “prohibited acts of direct exploitation of that invention”.

Therefore, Lidl will have to cease the import, supply, storage and marketing of the Monsieur Cuisine Connect food processor, being obliged to withdraw all copies in its stores or at its distributors, but also the destruction of all promotional and advertising materials of the product, including the one hosted on the internet, which has to be “eliminated”.
Lidl will also have to pay the applicant Vorwerk compensation for the damage caused, with an amount to be determined when the judgment becomes final, and will also have to pay the court costs.

The manufacturer Thermomix claimed as compensation 10% of the revenues obtained by Lidl by selling the food processors, Lidl stocks running out in just a few hours from when the food processors were put to be sold, because its price was about 360 euros, 3 times lower than the price of Vorwerk, which is a well-known company dedicated to the sale of household appliances.