ZEE Entertainment Enterprises Ltd v Zeebox Ltd, High Court
The High Court has refused an application to include survey evidence in a claim for passing off.
ZEE is an Indian-based television company operating under the brand “ZEE”. Zeebox Ltd launched an app called “Zeebox” on Apple iTunes which provided television-related social networking. ZEE sued Zeebox for passing off and trade mark infringement. To support its claim, ZEE conducted two pilot surveys amongst British Asians in the UK. The surveys showed positive results for ZEE’s argument on passing off. ZEE therefore made an application to the High Court to conduct a full survey to use as evidence in court in support of its claim.
The judge considered the estimated costs of the survey and the benefits that the survey would bring to the passing off claim. Taking into account the costs of the survey and the level of costs of the claim itself (likely to reach £1 million), the judge concluded that survey evidence could not be justified. In addition, the judge considered that survey evidence in this particular passing off was not needed enough to justify the costs involved. The case could be decided on the question of amount of spend on advertising, marketing and turnover.
