Aldi has announced the return of Cuthbert the Caterpillar amid a copyright infringement legal challenge by Marks & Spencer.

Last week, M&S started legal proceedings against supermarket rival Aldi, taking issue with the budget chain’s Cuthbert the Caterpillar.

The British retailer wanted to protect its Colin the Caterpillar cake, claiming that Aldi’s Cuthbert the Caterpillar product infringes its trademark.

M&S, which lodged an intellectual property claim with the High Court argued that the similarity of Aldi’s product leads consumers to believe they are of the same standard and “ride on the coat-tails” of M&S’s reputation with the product.

The legal move was mocked on social media with users pointing out that all major supermarkets have their own version of the chocolate cake - not least by Aldi themselves who took aim at Marks and Spencer’s famous marketing line.

Tweeting from the official Twitter account, Aldi said: “This is not just any court case, this is… #FreeCuthbert”

Now, posting its latest response to the row on Twitter, the German discounter announced a limited edition of the cake will return to shelves next month with all profits to be donated to cancer charities.

The post reads: “Hey Marks and Spencer we’re taking a stand against caterpillar cruelty. Can Colin and Cuthbert be besties?

“We’re bringing back a limited edition Cuthbert next month and want to donate all profits to cancer charities including your partners Macmillan Cancer Support and ours Teenage Cancer Trust. Let’s raise money for charity, not lawyers #caterpillarsforcancer.”

Aldi is calling on other supermarkets to join it and M&S in raising money or cancer charities through the sale of caterpillar cakes.

M&S launched Colin the Caterpillar around 30 years ago and his appearance has been substantially unchanged since around 2004, except for adaptations for events such as Halloween and Christmas, and related products such as Connie the Caterpillar.

The product is central to M&S’s partnership with cancer charity Macmillan, and the retailer has created a Colin product for the annual World’s Biggest Coffee Morning fundraising event.

M&S has three trademarks relating to Colin, which the retailer believes means Colin has acquired and retains an enhanced distinctive character and reputation.

Nevertheless, the M&S original has spawned a range of imitators since its launch, such as Sainsbury’s Wiggles, Tesco’s Curly, Morris by Morrisons, the Co-op’s Charlie, Cecil by Waitrose and Asda’s Clyde.