Unregistered Design Rights: Edwards v Boohoo.com UK Ltd and others

Author Hugh Venables Licence CC BY-SA 2. 0 Source Wikimedia Commons Jane Lambert Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (Mr Tom Mitcheson KC) Edwards v Boohoo.com UK Ltd and other s [2025] EWHC 805 (IPEC) (3 Apr 202 5) This was an action for unregistered design right infringement. The claimant was Sonia Edwards, a fashion designer who promoted her work on Instagram, Facebook, CwtchyCwtchy, and other websites. CwtchyCwtchy seems to be derived from the Welsh word "cwtch" , which can be translated roughly as "hug". Ms Edwards complained that Boohoo.com UK Limited and its related companies ("Boohoo") infringed design rights in five of her designs by making and selling clothes to those designs. The action was tried by Mr Tom Mitcheson KC sitting as a deputy judge of the High Court on 30 and 31 Jan 2025. He handed down judgment on 3 April 2025. By para [151] of his judgment in Edwards v Boohoo...