Trade mark infringement—UK

Copyright © 2025 LexisNexis

Published by a LexisNexis IP expert

Practice notes

Trade mark infringement—UK

Copyright © 2025 LexisNexis

Published by a LexisNexis IP expert

Practice notes

imgtext

This Practice Note covers infringement of UK trade marks registered under the Trade Marks Act 1994 (TMA 1994). It considers types of trade mark infringement, who may bring a claim, the meaning of statutory provisions and relevant case law.

Rights conferred by a trade mark registration

The registration of a trade mark gives the owner the exclusive right to prevent others from using that mark without their consent. The rationale behind the protection is to ensure that the registered trade mark acts as a ‘guarantee of origin’ in relation to the goods and services for which it is registered. If a member of the public buys a can of Coca-Cola, they are entitled to assume that they are buying the well-known original soft drink and not an imitation. If someone else uses a registered trade mark, or a confusingly similar one, without permission from the trade mark owner, there may be a claim for trade mark infringement.

The Court of Appeal’s decision in R (on the application of British American Tobacco) v Secretary of State for Health includes a

Powered by Lexis+^®

Jurisdiction(s):

United Kingdom

Key definition:

Goods definition

What does Goods mean?

Goods denote personal chattel and other property which may be detached from land.

Popular documents

Passing off—goodwill, misrepresentation and damage

Passing off—goodwill, misrepresentation and damagePassing off is a common law tort which protects rights that are not capable of registration or are difficult to register as trade marks (eg colours, get-up and packaging), or rights that had not been registered formally, but have acquired goodwill.

Introduction to passing off

Introduction to passing offUnlike many other countries, the UK has no unfair competition law. Brand owners seeking to prevent competitors from marketing ‘copycat’ products or using misleading advertising have to rely on a combination of different IP rights. These rights include the common law right

Brand protection and enforcement in the Metaverse

Brand protection and enforcement in the MetaverseThis Practice Note sets out the considerations that right holders should take into account when protecting and enforcing their brands in the Metaverse. It covers the points to consider when planning the scope of trade mark or design protection,

If Company A was selling a product with their brand name to Company B as part of a business solution

If Company A was selling a product with their brand name to Company B as part of a business solution which they managed, could Company A include a provision in the contract to obtain the right to remove the branding of the product once the contract is terminated?In such a situation, it would be