ARTICLE · 25 APRIL 2024

Festive Gin Bottles - Marks & Spencer V Aldi

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Registered designs are one of the pillars of the intellectual property (IP) law system. Yet patents, trade marks and copyright get most of the headlines.

South AfricaIntellectual Property

Liézal Mostert

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Registered designs are one of the pillars of the intellectual property (IP) law system. Yet patents, trade marks and copyright get most of the headlines. But there has recently been an interesting judgment in the UK about registered designs and it's certainly worth a look as the judgment reminds us that registered designs can be significant.

The UK case is complex and this article will focus on what we regard as the most relevant points.

M&S and its funky light-up gin bottles

Retail chain Marks & Spencer ("M&S") owns various UK design registrations that cover gin products, including a product range that the company introduced in 2020, consisting of gin-flavoured liqueurs that are sold in a festively decorated bottle.

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