Robert Walker J upheld a claim in passing off notwithstanding the existence of different branding. He said: ‘But it seems to me to be likely that [certain individuals acting for the defendants] were, under advice, seeking to make only such changes as were needed in order to avoid what they judged to be an unacceptable risk of being attacked for copying, while maintaining Puffin’s position as an obvious competitor and parody, and (they hoped) a ‘brand beater. I cannot escape the conclusion that, while aiming to avoid what the law would characterise as deception, [the defendant is] taking a conscious decision to live dangerously. That is not in my judgment something that the court is bound to disregard.’ The question of the similarity between the get up of two products should be judged, to a significant extent, as a matter of first impression.
Judges:
Robert Walker J
Citations:
[1997] RPC 513
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Specsavers International Healthcare Ltd and Others v Asda Stores Ltd ChD 30-Jul-2010
The claimant complained of the defendant’s use of its trade marks alleging infringement and passing off when it relaunched its own optician services. Having had advance notice of the details of the proposed campaign, the claimants had launched their . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Intellectual Property
Updated: 29 June 2022; Ref: scu.421578