Bad Hair Day

The application for a declaration of invalidity was made on the basis of an earlier UK registration of LONDON FASHION WEEK in classes 35 and 41 owned by British Fashion Council ("BFC"), on the basis of BFC's earlier use-based rights, ie passing off rights, and on the basis of BFC's copyright in a LONDON FASHION WEEK logo.

However, the hearing officer decided the case solely on the basis of BFC's passing off rights, concluding that it was "inevitable that the applicant's [BFC's] customers and potential customers will believe that the respective services originate from the same source or are connected".  Having found in favour of BFC on this count, the hearing officer did not need to consider the other grounds.

The marks in this case were strikingly similar, to the extent that the hearing officer noted that it appeared to him that "the proprietor's mark was modelled on the applicant's mark".  In view of this and BFC's operation of London Fashion Week since 1993, the outcome was perhaps inevitable.

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