Are "Inferior" Passing Off Rights "Overridden" By Registered Marks?

Camelot (the UK National Lottery manager) has found that its registered trade mark for its HOTPICKS game will not shield it from its rival’s passing off claim.

Inter Lotto (UK) Ltd alleges that since August 2001 it has used the similar name HOT PICK for its own lotto game. Just two months later Camelot applied to register its mark as a UK trade mark although it was not until July 2002 that it began to use it for its own new game. Inter Lotto assert that by this time it had acquired substantial goodwill from its use of HOTPICKS. To prevent further harm to this goodwill Inter Lotto sued Camelot for passing off. Camelot raised several defences the most interesting of which concern the relationship between registered trademarks and other IP rights. These were considered at a preliminary issue hearing in the UK court on 6th June 2003.