Maier & Anor v ASOS Plc & Anor

Maier & Anor v ASOS Plc & Anor

Permission is granted for the claimants to contact prize draw entrants and conduct the survey at the London Bike Show because both exercises are likely to be valuable in providing evidence of confusion, and the costs are proportionate to their utility. The Interflora evidentiary test applies generally to both trade mark and passing off cases, requiring careful evaluation of value and cost.

Parties
Claimant: Roger Maier; Claimant: Assos of Switzerland SA; Defendant: ASOS PLC; Defendant: ASOS.COM Limited
Jurisdiction
England and Wales
Judgment Date
23 November 2012
Procedural Posture
Intellectual Property / Interlocutory Application for Directions Regarding Witness Collection and Survey
Outcome
Application granted in part
Legal Topics
Trade Mark Infringement, Passing Off, Survey Evidence, Witness Collection, Court Management
Intellectual Property Civil Procedure Trade Mark Infringement Passing Off Survey Evidence Witness Collection Court Management

Case Brief

Summary, issues, holding and outcome

More case intelligence is available

Unlock the full research layer for this judgment.

Full judgment text Downloadable case file Legal principles 4 Authorities cited 10 Party arguments 2 Amounts and remedies 6
Sign in to unlock

Parties

Roger Maier

Claimant

Assos of Switzerland SA

Claimant

ASOS PLC

Defendant

ASOS.COM Limited

Defendant

Procedural Posture

Intellectual Property / Interlocutory Application for Directions Regarding Witness Collection and Survey

Legal Issues

  1. 1 Whether permission should be granted for claimants to contact prize draw entrants for witness collection
  2. 2 Whether permission should be granted to conduct a survey at the London Bike Show
  3. 3 Applicability of the Interflora evidentiary test to trade mark and passing off cases

Ratio Decidendi

Permission is granted for the claimants to contact prize draw entrants and conduct the survey at the London Bike Show because both exercises are likely to be valuable in providing evidence of confusion, and the costs are proportionate to their utility. The Interflora evidentiary test applies generally to both trade mark and passing off cases, requiring careful evaluation of value and cost.

Court Disposition

Application granted in part

Orders

  • Permission granted to contact prize draw entrants for witness collection as per procedure detailed in Mr. Brownlow's third witness statement.
  • Permission granted to conduct survey at the London Bike Show in accordance with specimen survey and Whitford guidelines.