Asda and Specsavers end court row over logo

Specsavers accused retailer of 'ripping off' its famous logo

Asda and Specsavers have ended their six-year legal dispute after the supermarket was accused of “ripping off” the opticians’ distinctive logo.

Both sides agreed in the High Court today to end hostilities after Asda relaunched its opticians’ business 2008 with the tagline “be a real spec saver at Asda” and promoting “spec savings at Asda”.

The court was shown internal documents from Asda which were presented to marketing directors noted “Asda version of Specsavers — rip-off”. It showed three logo designs of the Specsavers ovals with Asda Optician in its place. The document also has the Specsavers logo above.

Following questioning at the hearing, Rick Bendel, then chief marketing officer for Asda, was described as “somewhat defensive and, on occasions, evasive” over questions about the document.

The courts had revoked Specsavers’ claim to copyright over the oval shape, but today this was reinstalled. Asda has since dropped the use of the logo and marketing, but spent millions of pounds in court on appeals and counter appeals.

An Asda spokesperson said: “This is a historic case which settled long ago. Asda has taken no part in the proceedings for a number of years.”

Specsavers’ marketing director Richard Holmes said: “The judgement clearly identifies the value of the Specsavers logo and the fact that Specsavers is recognisable from its famous green ellipses alone.”