Mr Justice Asplin has handed down his judgment and rejected a trade mark infringement and passing off claim in Evegate Publishing Ltd v Newsquest Media (Southern) Ltd [2013] EWHC 1975 (Ch). The Claimant was the publisher of South East Farmer magazine and brought the claim against the Defendant, which published The Southern Farmer.
Passing off
The judge accepted the existence of goodwill in the Claimant’s use of its mark but held that the Defendant had not misrepresented its publication as having originated from the Claimant. Furthermore, the judge noted that the relevant public was relatively small and that there was no evidence of confusion or deception.
Trade mark infringement
The judge noted that the Claimant’s trade mark had a reputation but rejected the claim of infringement on the basis that there was no likelihood of confusion amongst consumers between the Claimant’s mark and the Defendant’s sign.
By Aasim Durrani. Aasim is a Trainee Solicitor and can be contacted on aasim.durrani@lawdit.co.uk
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