Trade mark and passing off disputes

A trade mark may be registered or unregistered. Its essential function is to be a badge of origin distinguishing the goods and services of one undertaking from those of other undertakings. In order to fulfil this function, a trade mark needs to be distinctive. Disputes arise when a third party uses a trade mark that is too close to an existing trade mark, potentially resulting in consumer confusion and erosion of that essential distinctiveness.

Generally speaking, trade mark and passing off disputes go hand in hand. It is common for a claimant asserting that its registered trade mark has been infringed to include an allegation of passing off, at least initially.

For more information, see Practice Notes:

•
Trade mark infringement—UK
•
Passing off—goodwill, misrepresentation and damage
•
Trade mark and passing off disputes—a practical guide

For more information about how trade mark rights relate to other IP rights, see Practice Note: IP right comparison table.

Registered trade marks in the UK

The law relating to UK trade mark registrations is set out in the Trade Marks Act 1994 (TMA

To view the latest version of this document and thousands of others like it, sign-in with LexisNexis or register for a free trial.

TAKE A FREE TRIAL

Latest IP News

Government Office for Science publishes case study on deepfake detection framework

The Government Office for Science has published a case study on the UK’s science-led response to the growing deepfake threat. The initiative is designed to help police, industry and online platforms identify fraudulent and harmful content and protect the public from criminal exploitation. As part of this effort, the Home Office in collaboration with Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, Department for Culture, Media and Sport, HMRC, the Accelerated Capability Environment and the Alan Turing Institute has developed a deepfake detection evaluation framework to assess how effectively current tools identify harmful deepfakes across different use cases. Tools are evaluated against real-world challenges such as impersonation, fraud and non-consensual image abuse, highlighting both their strengths and areas for improvement.

Tenets of patentability affected by the UK Supreme Court (Emotional Perception vs Comptroller of Patents UKIPO)

IP analysis: On 11 February 2026 in an earth-shattering decision, the UK Supreme Court ‘UKSC’ rocked the foundations of UK patent law by reorientating the assessment of exclusions to patentability, ie, non-patent eligible subject-matter. For good measure, the UK Supreme Court went further by clarifying the nature of invention, and by providing guidance on how inventive step/obvious should be assessed. It is a generational decision; one which will both endure and which will bring about immediate changes to patent practice. The decision decimates previous difficulties experienced in the UK with protecting innovations in ‘all fields of technology’, not just in the areas of AI and computing in which Emotional Perception’s technology resides. Multi-dimension aspects from the judgment result in alignment and partial harmonisation with many European Patent Office (EPO) concepts, but there are also some differences and consequences these may (or may not) prove to be significant. Written by Bruce Dearling, parter at Hepworth Browne.

Intellectual Property Office publishes One IPO Service roadmap

The Intellectual Property Office has published its One IPO Service roadmap ahead of launching the One IPO patents service, setting out planned improvements before launch, within the first six months and in the following six to 12 months. Planned changes include restoring patent publishing to full capacity, speeding up internal processing, improving correspondence and search functionality, enhancing patent application and payment and invoicing features and introducing digital renewal reminder and ceasing notifications.

IP weekly highlights—19 February 2026

This week's edition of IP weekly highlights includes: a hand-picked summary of news analysis, updates and new content from the world of IP. These highlights focus on the key rights of copyright and associated rights, design rights, database rights, trade marks and passing off, and patents, as well as covering issues relating to confidential information, know-how R&D and IP disputes all mainly from a UK and European perspective.