A legal decision was reached this week in the marketing impersonation wrangle between the Puffin and Penguin chocolate biscuit brands in Britain. A High Court judge decided that while supermarket group Asda's juvenile Puffin was flying dangerously low over its flightless competitor its colourful display was not a intentional copy of its more venerable rival. Although packaging and overall presentation were "deceptively similar" there was no legal infringement of Penguin's trademark name or image. However the court decided to clip the Puffin's wings in ruling that its packaging plumage must be altered sufficiently to differentiate it from Penguin.

It was not entirely clear who won or who lost but there was still much preening of feathers. Asda said it was vindicated in its "value crusade" with own brand products, claiming that the fledgling Puffin product was flying off the shelves at four times the rate of its more aged competitor. A spokesman for United Biscuits, welcoming the decision on produce appearance, said that last year Penguin sales grew 24 per cent to over £30 million. "The Penguin has never been more popular". Costs have yet to be determined, a decision bound to singe a few more feathers.