Jacob Fruitfield, the Tallaght-based food group, whose brands include Jacob's Cream Crackers and Fig Rolls, is seeking an injunction against United Biscuits to prevent it launching products in Ireland which it says use similar packaging to its brands.
The group claims that sales of its best-selling biscuits could be seriously damaged by the launch of McVities Fig Rolls and Cream Crackers into the Irish market, alleging McVities' packaging has been designed to deliberately confuse Irish customers.
"Fig Rolls and Cream Crackers are flagship products in the Jacob's biscuit portfolio. They have become firm favourites with Irish consumers and we believe that if McVities were to launch their products in the current packaging they could easily be mistaken as Jacob's brands and would cause confusion among consumers, thus damaging our business," said Michael Carey, chairman of the Jacob Fruitfield Food Group.
"As a small privately-owned company we cannot tolerate this infringement of our intellectual property rights. Our great Irish brands are vitally important to our future and we are determined to defend them from this unfair attack by a competitor," he added.
Jacob Fruitfield, which was formed in August 2004 as a result of the amalgamation of Fruitfield Foods - which had been bought out from Nestle in 2002, and Irish Biscuits - purchased from Groupe Danone in 2004, also owns a facility in Drogheda, Co Louth.
In addition to Jacobs Cream Crackers and Fig Rolls, the group's other brands include Chef Sauces, Silvermints, Yorkshire Toffees and Little Chin and Old Time marmalades.
A spokesperson for United Biscuits, which owns McVities, could not be contacted.
