Trade mark exhaustion exceptions and copyright in industrial designs (AGA Rangemaster v UKIG)
IP analysis: The Court of Appeal upheld an IPEC decision that, while the trade mark proprietor could not object to the sale of modified versions of goods on the secondary market (due to the defence of exhaustion provided by section 12(1) of the Trade Marks Act 1994 (TMA 1994)), the claimant had legitimate reasons to oppose the defendants’ activities where this created an impression of a commercial connection between the parties. The court looked at the test to be applied, while reiterating that such cases are highly fact-sensitive. The Court of Appeal also refused the claimant’s cross-appeal relating to copyright in industrial designs, finding that while the claimant’s design document was an original artistic graphic work, the related physical article itself was not an artistic work so the defendant was entitled to a defence under section 51 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CPDA 1988). In doing so, the court considered the meaning of ‘graphic work’. Written by Andrew Leese, partner at Knights Professional Services Ltd.