Home Bargains is SUED by Jellycat over £5 soft toys in latest attack on ‘copycat’ retailers

MoneyNews Money SHOP & SAVE TAKE a bite out of the price of Jellycat Amuseables Camembert at scribbler.com, down from £30 to £21. SAVE: £9 Credit: Scribbler.com SOFT toy giant Jellycat is suing Home Bargains for allegedly ripping off their designs. The hit Gen Z stuffed animal business claims the discount chain flogged similar “dupe” toys to its posh £45 plushies. Jellycat has sued multiple retailers alleged to have copied their designs Credit: Not known, clear with picture desk Jellycat – which sells 10million toys a year – lodged an intellectual property claim against Home Bargains’ parent firm, TJ Morris. Lawyers say toys like Jellycat’s £25 unicorn have been ripped off by the high street chain’s £5 version. Sign up for the Money newsletter Thank you! The toy wars are now set to end in a dramatic legal showdown, with Jellycat taking the dispute to the High Court, City AM reported. They are seeking an order preventing all 600 Home Bargains branches from flogging toys. It is unclear which toys the firm believes breach their patents in the UK, but Home Bargians sells soft plushies including a £3 pink rabbit, an £8 seagull, and a £3 duck. A Jellycat spokesman told The Sun: “We put skill and love into creating every Jellycat character, so we’re obviously very protective of our designs and our fans. “We are not commenting further at this time.” Home Bargains declined to comment when approached by The Sun. Most read in Money Jellycat is already suing department chains Next and Morrisons for alleged toy plagiarism. We revealed last month how the brand’s case against the Big Four retailer centres on a copycat plant plushie the chain refused to axe. Jellycat’s lawyers say it creates no different “overall impression” and is of “inferior quality”. They add Morrisons kept selling the £2.50 to £4 toy – Jellycat’s ­version costs from £15 – despite demands to stop. Morrisons has also sold plushies including an £8 “Mummy and Me” kangaroo, a pug and a unicorn, but they are not part of the current infringement claim. The firm, launched in 1999 by Thomas Gatacre, made £139 million last year, up from £67million, as the wider soft toy market boomed. Royal fans of the Jellycat brand include Prince William and Princess Kate’s daughter Charlotte, who was pictured playing with the British brand’s Fuddlewuddle Puppy in 2015. William, 43, even admitted the toys, around since 1999, are priceless ‘currency’ in his household. Similarly, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s daughter, Princess Lilibet, was seen clutching a £35 rainbow Jellycat bag in a snap uploaded to the Sussexes’ Instagram account. Comment now