Published on: 10 July 2025
Published by a LexisNexis IP expert
In Iconix v Dream Pairs [2025] UKSC 25, the Supreme Court confirmed that confusion arising after a purchase can constitute an actionable trade mark infringement, and need not be examined only in a further transaction. The Court also dismissed the contention that external, post-sale factors must be ignored when comparing a mark with a sign.
Although it identified those submissions as legal errors, the Supreme Court still allowed the appeal. It held the Court of Appeal erred in branding the trial judge’s findings irrational, and had no proper basis to replace the judge’s multifactorial assessment on similarity and the likelihood of confusion with its own.
This ruling entrenches post-sale confusion as a recognised head of infringement, and underscores the limits on appellate intervention and the narrow circumstances in which a trial judge’s broad evaluative findings should be revisited.
Written by Nick Smee, partner at Browne Jacobson LLP. See News Analysis: Supreme Court clarifies trade...
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