Bringing you monthly news of key developments in intellectual property law.
TRADE MARKS
Red Dot Technologies Ltd v Apollo Fire Detectors Limited (High Court)
The High Court has held that in cases of comparative advertising a claimant may be prevented from seeking an injunction if the defendant’s right to freedom of expression outweighs the damage which may be caused to the claimant as a result of the advertisement, even where the advertisement may be misleading. The court held that in a situation where the right to freedom of expression is at issue, it cannot grant an interim injunction preventing publication unless the claimant is ‘likely’ to establish at trial that the publication should not be allowed. This is a higher hurdle than the usual test established by American Cyanamid v Ethicon Limited that there must be ‘a real prospect of success’. In cases were a short-lived injunction is required for the court to have a fully effective hearing of the application, a lesser degree
