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ARTICLE · 08 JANUARY 2025

Top Three UK Trademark Decisions From 2024

Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP
Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP
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Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner LLP

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The article covers three significant intellectual property cases: 1) Adidas vs. Thom Browne, where Adidas' trademark claims were dismissed, and several of its 'three stripes' marks invalidated; 2) Sky vs. Skykick, with the Supreme Court ruling on 'bad faith' trademark filings; and 3) Lifestyle Equities vs. Amazon, where Amazon was found liable for trademark infringement in the UK due to targeted advertising.

United KingdomIntellectual Property
Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP
Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP
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1. Thom Browne v Adidas

Last month, in the first decision in relation to 'position' marks, the English Court dismissed Adidas' claims for trademark infringement and passing off by Thom Browne. The judge also held that eight of Adidas' 'three stripes' trademarks were invalid as they lacked identification requirements, such as precision and clarity which fall under section 1 of theTrade Mark Act (the Act).

Adidas also brought claims for trademark infringement in the US and in Germany against Thom Browne. However, these were unsuccessful.

Adidas uses a design consisting of three parallel, straight stripes of equal width and spacing to identify its brand on its clothing. Thom Browne uses a design consisting of four equally spaced stripes of equal width on garments. Both designs are shown below.

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