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Aug 13, 2024 | 
fieldfisher.com | Jennifer Bryant
The Court of Appeal has upheld the High Court's decision that BEVERLY HILLS POLO CLUB trade marks were not infringed by ROYAL COUNTY OF BERKSHIRE POLO CLUB signs in a decision handed down on 22 July 2024: Lifestyle Equities v Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club.
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Jul 31, 2024 | 
fieldfisher.com | Jennifer Bryant
AGA's trade marks, but not its copyright, were held to be infringed in an instructive judgment for those involved with upcycling and refurbishment activities, handed down by the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC) on 8 July 2024 (Aga Rangemaster v UK Innovations & McGinley).
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Jul 17, 2024 | 
fieldfisher.com | Jennifer Bryant
On 25 January 2024, the Court of Justice of the European Union ("CJEU") issued its highly anticipated preliminary reference concerning Audi's renowned four rings trade mark (C-334/22, Audi Group AG ("Audi") v GQ.
Summary of facts
Audi, the Claimant, owns European Union trade mark no.
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Jul 1, 2024 | 
fieldfisher.com | Jennifer Bryant
The Supreme Court has handed down its keenly anticipated decision inLifestyle Equities v Ahmed, ruling that knowledge is required in order to be liable as an accessory to trade mark infringement. The decision is not limited to trade mark infringement, and applies to all torts, even where the tort itself is strict liability (i.e. does not require knowledge).
This is the most significant change to accessory liability in years.
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Apr 11, 2024 | 
fieldfisher.com | Jennifer Bryant
The Supreme Court has handed down its judgment in Lifestyle Equities CV v Amazon UK Services Ltd ([2024] UKSC 8).
It upheld the Court of Appeal's decision that Amazon's marketing and offer for sale of US branded goods to UK consumers from its US website did target the UK as a territory and therefore infringed Lifestyle Equities' trade marks.
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Apr 2, 2024 | 
fieldfisher.com | Jennifer Bryant
The Court of Appeal has handed down its keenly awaited judgment in Lidl v Tesco ([2024] EWCA Civ 262).
In a lengthy judgment given just four weeks after the hearing, it upheld the High Court's findings of trade mark infringement and passing off, and overturned the High Court's finding of copyright infringement. It also upheld the invalidity of the "Wordless Mark".
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Feb 28, 2024 | 
fieldfisher.com | Jennifer Bryant
The Court of Appeal has addressed the application of the so-called "Article 132 Torpedo" in its recent judgment in Crafts Group LLC v M/S Indeutsch International – although by the time of the hearing, the pleadings had been amended such that the case is likely to turn on its own facts rather than being of broad general applicability.
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Feb 20, 2024 | 
fieldfisher.com | Jennifer Bryant
A version of this article was published on World Intellectual Property Review at worldipreview.com on 20 February 2024.
In a trade mark dispute between rival users of the acronym 'ICE' (Industrial Cleaning Equipment v Intelligent Cleaning Equipment[2023] EWCA Civ 1451), the Court of Appeal ("CoA") held that statutory acquiescence starts to run from when an earlier trade mark holder becomes aware of the use of a later registered trade mark, whether or not it is aware of the later registration.
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Jan 29, 2024 | 
fieldfisher.com | Jennifer Bryant
On 27 October 2023, the Court of Appeal rejected the appeal of easyGroup Ltd in its claim for infringement of four EU and UK trade marks for "EASYOFFICE" (easyGroup v Nuclei[2023] EWCA Civ 1247).
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Jan 10, 2024 | 
fieldfisher.com | Jennifer Bryant
In a straightforward, unanimous judgment the Supreme Court has held that an AI machine cannot be an '"inventor" under the Patents Act 1977, and that ownership of an AI machine does not confer on its owner a right to apply for or be granted patents for anything created by that machine.
