Blocking Injunctions For ISPs Whose Services Are Being Used By Website Operators To Sell Infringing Goods

The UK's Court of Appeal recently confirmed that UK brand owners can take action against internet service providers (ISPs) whose services are being used by website operators to sell goods which are either counterfeit or infringe a brand owner's trade marks.

In 2014, the High Court held that it had jurisdiction to grant Cartier (along with Montblanc and Richemont) so-called "blocking injunctions", ordering ISPs to block user access to websites selling counterfeit Cartier and Montblanc goods. In Cartier International and Others v British Sky Broadcasting and Others Ors [2016] EWCA Civ 658, the Court of Appeal has upheld that decision. Even though the ISPs were neither infringing the trade marks nor engaging in a common design, they were still considered "essential actors" in the infringing activities of the website operators.