- Date of judgment
- Judge
- R. Mahadevan
- Outcome
- Dismissed
Headnote
Appeal dismissed and the refusal of an interim injunction upheld. The Supreme Court compared BLENDERS PRIDE and IMPERIAL BLUE with LONDON PRIDE and found no visual, phonetic or structural resemblance capable of supporting infringement or passing off, resemblance being a sine qua non for both. The judgment works through the anti-dissection rule, the dominant feature test, the principle that no exclusive right attaches to common or descriptive terms, and the average consumer with imperfect recollection, and discusses the post-sale confusion doctrine as it has developed in the United Kingdom. Although the appellants held registrations for the composite marks, no evidence showed that any element, such as bottle shape, colour scheme or the word PRIDE, had acquired distinctiveness or secondary meaning. An earlier unsuccessful challenge to the use of PRIDE, where it was held that they had no independent registration for the word alone, also told against them.
Headnote by BRB Legal, written from the judgment: a summary for reference, not legal advice. Read the judgment itself before relying on it.