NIPC Law

Jane Lambert High Court of Justice, Business and Property Courts of England and Wales, Intellectual Property List, Chancery Division (Lord Justice Arnold)    Glaxo Wellcome UK Ltd and Another  v Sandoz Ltd and Others [2019] EWHC 2545 (Ch) (4 Oct 2019) This was an action for passing off . The claimants alleged that the defendants were passing off their dry powder inhalers ("DPI") as and for the claimants' by presenting and packaging them in purple. The action came on for trial before Lord Justice Arnold in July 2019. His lordship dismissed the claim in his judgment of 4 Oct 2019. The Claimants The claimants, Glaxo Welcome UK Ltd. and Glaxo Group Ltd. have marketed a combination of salmeterol and fluticasone for the treatment of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease ("COPD") under the trade mark Seretide in a proprietary DPI branded Accuhaler since 1999 and in a metered dose inhaler ("MDI") branded Evohaler si...

In  Gama Healthcare Ltd v PAL International Ltd [2016] EWHC 75 (IPEC) (20 Jan 2016)   the claimant, Gama Healthcare Ltd ( "Gama" )  sued PAL International Ltd. ( "PAL" ) for passing off. Gama complained that the get-up of Pal's Medipal  disinfectant and detergent wet wipes was so similar to the packaging of its Clinell wipes that it was likely to lead members of the trade to believe that the defendant's wipes were those of the  claimant or otherwise connected with the claimant. The goodwill claimed  lay in the use of those colours in combination with the colour block design for the front of the packaging described. The proportion of the front of the pack which was to be coloured was not specified, and no part of the packaging was relied upon apart from the front of the package. Gama pleaded that the front of the package was the critical aspect that would most commonly be viewed by the public. Gama was founded in 2004 by two...

The Rival Logos: Enterprise's to the left and Europcar's to the right In Enterprise Holdings, Inc v Europcar Group UK Ltd and another [2015] EWHC 17 (Ch) (13 Jan 2015) Enterprise Holdings Inc . ( "Enterprise" ) sued Europcar UK Ltd  and its French holding company ( "Europcar" ) for trade mark infringement and passing off.  Enterprise trades under the logo to the left while Europcar had begun to use the sign on the right. The litigation in England iwa part of a global struggle between the two car hire giants over those logos.  According to Mr Justice Arnold there are some 98 trade mark disputes between those parties over Europcar's new logo around the world.  The Registration Enterprise alleged infringement of 3 of its UK registered trade Marks and 7 of its Community ones. At trial Enterprise focused its case on CTM  937,4497 ( "the CTM" ) which was registered as of 14 Sept 2010 in respect of  "vehicle rental and leasing ...