SkyKick V Sky: A Debrief Of The Latest Developments

The UK Supreme Court recently handed down its judgment in the long-running SkyKick v Sky trade mark battle. The court considered the key issue of ‘bad faith' applied to the over-claiming practice and its implications for trade mark infringement matters.

This decision will have important implications on trade mark filing and enforcement strategy for brand owners. In particular, when filing UK trade mark applications, applicants will have to consider that the goods and services claimed have a commercial justification to avoid vulnerability to bad faith claims.

Background

In the underlying case, Sky, a British broadcaster, sued SkyKick, an email and cloud storage company, for trade mark infringement. In response, SkyKick alleged Sky acted in bad faith by claiming protection for goods it does not operate in or has no commercial interest in. The High Court initially found that Sky acted in bad faith and that Sky's marks were partially invalid, but also found that