Craft Beer Co accuses Marks and Spencer of 'ripping off' its branding

A pub chain has accused Marks and Spencer of "ripping off" its branding for a t-shirt design.

Craft Beer Co, which was founded in 2011, tweeted a picture of the £16 men's garment which featured the tagline ‘proper good beer, craft beer co'.

M&S has removed the product from sale and said it took intellectual property "very seriously".

Craft Beer Co tweeted: "Hey @marksandspencer what's the idea with these T shirts!? Can we expect a royalties cheque in the post!?

"Surely one Iconic British Institution shouldn't be ripping off another…!!?"

The group added in a later post: "It really is hard to believe in 2023 such things can be signed off by someone at huge PLC."

Craft Beer Co was founded by school friends Martin Hayes and Peter Slezak and now runs eight pubs in London and Brighton.

An M&S spokesperson said: "We take intellectual property very seriously and, while the t-shirt was designed in good faith, we've taken the decision to remove the product from sale so we can investigate further."

Craft Beer Co welcomed the news that the t-shirts had been removed from sale, and wrote on social media: "The most iconic name on the British high street paying homage to us has been taken with the respect it was no doubt intended."

Last year M&S settled a long-running copyright dispute with Aldi over its Colin the Caterpillar cake when the rival German supermarket began selling a Cuthbert the Caterpillar cake, which looked similar. M&S claimed Aldi had infringed its trademark, but the two companies reached a confidential settlement out of court.