Lidl Great Britain Limited & Anor. v Tesco Stores Limited & Anor.

Lidl Great Britain Limited & Anor. v Tesco Stores Limited & Anor.

Tesco's pleaded case, including allegations of defensive registration and evergreening, coupled with lack of intention to use, provides sufficient objective indicia to overcome the presumption of good faith and merits a trial; the judge erred in striking out the counterclaim.

Parties
Claimant/respondent: Lidl Great Britain Limited; Claimant/respondent: Lidl Stiftung & Co KG; Defendant/appellant: Tesco Stores Limited; Defendant/appellant: Tesco PLC
Jurisdiction
England and Wales
Judgment Date
02 November 2022
Procedural Posture
Appeal / Court of Appeal Judgment on Strike Out of Bad Faith Counterclaim
Outcome
Appeal allowed; strike-out order reversed.
Legal Topics
Trade Marks, Bad Faith Registration, Strike Out Applications, Evergreening, Trademark Infringement
Intellectual Property Civil Procedure Trade Marks Bad Faith Registration Strike Out Applications Evergreening Trademark Infringement

Case Brief

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Parties

Lidl Great Britain Limited

Claimant/respondent

Lidl Stiftung & Co KG

Claimant/respondent

Tesco Stores Limited

Defendant/appellant

Tesco PLC

Defendant/appellant

Procedural Posture

Appeal / Court of Appeal Judgment on Strike Out of Bad Faith Counterclaim

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether Tesco's counterclaim alleging Lidl's bad faith registration of trade marks should be struck out
  2. 2 Whether Lidl's applications for the Wordless Mark and subsequent registrations constitute bad faith
  3. 3 Whether 'evergreening' of trade marks amounts to bad faith

Ratio Decidendi

Tesco's pleaded case, including allegations of defensive registration and evergreening, coupled with lack of intention to use, provides sufficient objective indicia to overcome the presumption of good faith and merits a trial; the judge erred in striking out the counterclaim.

Court Disposition

Appeal allowed; strike-out order reversed.

Orders

  • Tesco's bad faith counterclaim reinstated for trial.
  • Case remitted for further proceedings on the merits of the bad faith allegations.