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ARTICLE · 25 OCTOBER 2014

It’s Another Website Blocking Injunction, But Not As We Know It…

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It seems a sensible and logical development to extend website-blocking orders to trade marks, especially considering the obligations directed at members states under the Enforcement Directive.

United KingdomIntellectual Property

On 17 October 2014, Mr Justice Arnold delivered his landmark judgment (spanning 266 paragraphs) in the case of (1) Cartier International AG (2) Montblanc-Simplo GMBH; and (3) Richemont International SA v. (1) British Sky Broadcasting Limited (2) British Telecommunications PLC (3) EE Limited (4) TalkTalk Teleco Limited (5) Virgin Media Limited and Open Rights Group . The Defendants (collectively "the ISPs") were ordered to block, or at least impede, access to particular websites which advertised and offered counterfeit goods bearing the Claimants' (collectively known as "Richemont")  marks.

This is arguably the first occasion where an application for a website-blocking order against internet service providers has been granted in order to combat trade mark infringement (as opposed to previous successful applications in relation to copyright) and as a test case, the detailed reasoning listed within the judgment is likely to be followed by other applications by trade

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