The legal action commenced in December 2004 with Weber accusing Cadac of infringing their trademark and selling counterfeit goods. This came as a result of Cadac retailing their own design of charcoal kettle barbeques under the name "Cadac Charcoal Pro". The barbeques differ substantially from Weber's products, and Cadac believe that its versions of the kettle barbeque actually perform substantially better than their Weber counterparts.
After accusing Cadac of infringing their trademark, Weber obtained a warrant from a local magistrate to attach Cadac stock. Cadac took Weber to court and the warrant was overturned and stocks were returned, thus dispelling the myth that kettle barbeques were somehow the intellectual property of Weber.
In March 2005, Weber, unhappy with the court's decision in 2004, took Cadac to the Supreme Court of Appeal, appealing against the High Court's decision that Cadac was neither infringing Weber's trademark nor selling counterfeit goods, but this was upheld. The costs were awarded to Cadac, which is able to continue manufacturing and selling its Charcoal Pros.
Since the final court decision, Weber has been afforded every opportunity to timeously fulfil the court's decision but has failed to act in accordance with the ruling. This obstinate stance - and a desire to recoup unfounded expenditure during the trial brought about by Weber - eventually compelled Cadac to instruct their attorneys to proceed with attaching Weber assets held in South Africa, which included the Weber trademarks. On 22 October 2007, this move was sanctioned with the Sheriff issuing a Notification Of Attachment in Execution of trademarks: Weber, Smokey Joe, Kettle Configuration and Loyo.
