Honest concurrent use defence for passing off rejected where lack of steps...
WS Foster & Sons v Brooks Brothers, Patents County Court From 1965, Foster had used a fox and boot device on its shoes and boots. Brooks was a UK subsidiary of a well-known US menswear group and...
View ArticleGreek Yoghurt battle goes sour
Fage UK Ltd v Chobani UK Ltd, High Court The High Court has found that a passing off claim did not need to show that the public as a whole believed that the trading name “Greek Yoghurt” was suggestive...
View ArticlePerpetual exclusive trade mark licence after corporate deal infringed when...
Doosan Power Systems v Babcock International, High Court This case arose out of a corporate deal in 1995. Babcock had sold off its energy division, Doosan, and granted Doosan a perpetual exclusive...
View ArticleAllen is no mug as he wins the day over Mr Spoon merchandise infringements
Allen v Redshaw, Patents County Court Ian Allen created a puppet show called Mr Spoon on Button Moon, as well as the puppets on the show. Thames Television commissioned seven series involving the...
View ArticleCourt of Appeal digs nails into “Lumos” passing off defendant as skincare and...
Lumos Skincare v Sweet Squared, Court of Appeal This was a case of beauty products. But the result will not appear pretty to the defendant. Lumos Skincare sold four anti-ageing skincare products under...
View ArticleFine judgment from Court of Appeal in passing off and trade mark infringement...
Okotoks Ltd v Fine & Country Ltd, Court of Appeal The Court of Appeal has found that whilst the original judge may have made an error in his conclusions regarding registration of the trade mark...
View ArticleHigh Court refuses application for survey evidence in passing off claim
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...
View ArticleFarmers fishing in wrong place over descriptive trade mark words
Evegate Publishing v Newsquest Media, High Court Evegate or its predecessor had been publishing and supplying a farming magazine called South East Farmer to 15,000 people in the South East of England...
View ArticleRihanna victory shines bright like a diamond as singer wins passing off claim
Robyn Rihanna Fenty v Arcadia Group Brands Ltd (t/a Topshop), High Court The High Court has concluded that Topshop’s sale of T-shirts bearing a photograph of Rihanna, a well-known popstar, without her...
View ArticleIt’s a jungle out there –trade mark opposition by former band mate upheld
Eric Victor Burdon v John Steel, Appointed Person of the Appeal Tribunal Trade Marks, Intellectual Property Office An opposition by the former vocalist of a disbanded musical group to an application by...
View ArticleLocal café tiff not storm in teacup as trade mark for similar name revoked...
Bocacina v Boca Cafes, Intellectual Property Enterprise Court Bocacina ran a bar, restaurant and gallery in Bristol since 2005 under the name “Bocabar”. It was sometimes known just as “Boca” and had a...
View ArticleCourt of Appeal upholds ruling that “NOW” was invalid as a trade mark
Starbucks (UK) Ltd v British Sky Broadcasting, Court of Appeal Starbucks (a Hong Kong-based media group and not the coffee shop chain) issued proceedings against Sky alleging that Sky’s use of the...
View ArticleIt all goes sour in Greek yoghurt Court of Appeal case
Fage v Chobani, Court of Appeal Fage was a group of Greek yoghurt producers who had sold Greek yoghurt in the UK since the 1980s. They objected to US businesses called Chobani who sold yoghurt in the...
View ArticleEx-member of trade group not liable for innocent use of group’s logo in...
National Guild of Removers & Storers v Milner, Intellectual Property Enterprise Court Milner was a member of a trade group. When he ceased membership, he placed an advert in a local directory. The...
View ArticleMoroccanoil fails to prove Aldi passing off despite similar get-up
Moroccanoil Israel Ltd v Aldi Stores Ltdt, Intellectual Property Enterprise Court Moroccanoil Israel Ltd, the company famous for selling hair-oil-products endorsed by the likes of Marion Cotillard and...
View ArticleDance equipment supplier in a spin over instrument of fraud in domain name...
Vertical Leisure v Poleplus, Intellectual Property Enterprise Court Vertical Leisure, a supplier of dance equipment, owned and used various trade marks including “X-Pole” and developed a new accessory...
View ArticleLinfoots successfully defends passing off and breach of contract claims by Orvec
Orvec International Ltd v Linfoots Ltd – Intellectual Property Enterprise Court The Intellectual Property Enterprise Court has dismissed Orvec’s claims that Linfoots passed off its products. The facts...
View ArticleWebsite needs to be repaired as BMW wins passing off case against Mini car...
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG v Shaun Coley (trading as BMW Mini Gearbox Centre), Intellectual Property Enterprise Court The IPEC has made declarations that a garage and car parts business trading as...
View ArticleAnglian closes window on similar trader
Anglian Windows Ltd v Anglian Roofline Ltd, Intellectual Property Enterprise Court Anglian Windows, the home improvement business with a £200m turnover, has managed to obtain an interim injunction to...
View ArticleCourt of Appeal upholds Rihanna’s right to sue Topshop for passing off in...
Robyn Rihanna Fenty v Arcadia Group Brands Ltd, Court of Appeal Rihanna has succeeded in defeating Arcadia’s appeal to the Court of Appeal over a High Court ruling that Arcadia’s Topshop stores had...
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