UK Supreme Court delivers landmark judgment in SkyKick v Sky
The Supreme Court has delivered its eagerly awaited judgment in the long-running trade mark dispute between SkyKick and Sky.
According to the Supreme Court's press summary, the Court "unanimously allows the appeal in part," finding that "the High Court was entitled to find that the SKY marks were applied for in bad faith to the extent that it did, and the Court of Appeal was wrong to reverse that finding."
The dispute, which began in 2016, has been closely watched by trade mark practitioners for its significant implications regarding bad faith applications and specification of goods and services. The press summary notes that a central issue was "whether (and if so in what circumstances) a registration of a trade mark can be invalidated in whole or in part on the basis that the application to register the mark was made in bad faith because the applicant did not intend to use the mark for the goods or services for which it sought protection."
For the full picture, click here to read the judgment in its entirity
The summary goes on to say: "The Court of Appeal was, however, right to find that, on the basis of the narrowed specifications of goods and services, infringement by Cloud Migration had not been established; but no error had been made in relation to Cloud Backup.
"In addition, the EU Trade Mark Regulation (the “EUTM Regulation”) continues to have direct effect in the context of proceedings pending before a United Kingdom court designated as an EU trade mark court prior to the end of the transition period on 31st December 2020 (“IP completion day”)."
Trade mark professionals will have the opportunity to explore the full implications of this significant ruling at the CITMA Seminar for Litigators, a two-part online seminar beginning on 14th November. The timing of this judgment provides attendees with a unique opportunity to dissect this fresh ruling with fellow practitioners and experts.