Cadbury UK Limited v Comptroller-General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks [2016] EWHC 796 (Ch)
Cadbury appealed against the decision of the IPO to refuse them permission to delete part of a registration for the Cadbury purple house colour. The application was made to remove wording in the registration which covered the use of the purple colour as the ‘predominant colour’ applied to the visible surface of the packaging of chocolate, the Court of Appeal having held in Societe des Produits Nestle v Cadbury UK Limited [2014] RPC 7 that such wording was too vague and uncertain to amount to a registrable trade mark. Cadbury contended that the wording of the registration which covered the use of the colour applied either to the whole visible surface, or as the predominant colour applied to the visible surface, amounted to a series of marks, and they should therefore be permitted to delete the invalid element under rule 28(5) of the Trade Mark Rules. Deputy Judge John Baldwin QC rejected this argument, holding that the registration did not consist of a series of marks. Iain Purvis QC appeared for Cadbury.