Interflora v M&S – The Saga Continues

The 6 year legal battle between flower delivery giant Interflora and M&S has taken a new twist following the Court of Appeal's latest appeal ruling in the case (Interflora Inc & Anor v Marks and Spencer plc [2014] EWCA Civ 1403). The appeal was brought by M&S in an effort to overturn the decision reached at trial last May by Mr Justice Arnold who held that M&S had infringed Interflora's trade marks.

Background

Interflora originally brought its infringement claim against M&S in the High Court back in 2008.  It had objected to M&S paying Google for the right to use the keyword "interflora" as a search term to help generate adverts promoting its own (i.e. M&S's) competing flower delivery service.   As a result of M&S's actions, consumers using "interflora" as a Google search term were led to a search results page in which M&S's service was prominently advertised.