Lifestyle Equities v Royal County of Berkshire Polo [2019] EWCH 1872 (Ch) Club
The claimant is the proprietor of trade mark registrations comprising a picture of a polo rider on a horse surrounded by the name BEVERLY HILLS POLO CLUB for a range of goods including clothing. The defendants are the licensor, the licensing agent and various licensees in a number of different countries of marks comprising different pictures of a polo rider on a horse accompanied by the name ROYAL COUNTY OF BERKSHIRE POLO CLUB. The defendants’ primary defence is that the marks in dispute are not similar to the claimants’ registered mark. The fourth and fifth defendants’ (the licensing agents) set out in their defence a series of the background facts and reasons why the alleged infringing signs are not confusingly similar to the claimants’ registered mark or in the alternative the registrations should be held invalid. The claimants sought to strike out these allegations as fanciful. The court reviewed the claimants’ assertions as to the lack of substance in the proposed defence and concluded that the allegations should go to trial as they were not fanciful but required the court to consider the evidence in order to determine whether the signs are confusingly similar or which, if any, of the defendants’ pleaded outcomes was correct.
Michael Silverleaf instructed by Gateley plc appeared for the fourth and fifth defendants.