Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Key 2025 UK IP rulings and policy: post-sale trade mark confusion clarified; ECJ/UPC cross-border patent remedies; AI training transparency fight; AstraZeneca plausibility upheld

Published on: 08 September 2025

Published by a Law360 reporter

Legal News

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Article summary

Law360 delivers a brisk summary of several major IP milestones to date in what is fast becoming a standout year for intellectual property law in the UK. One prominent case is outlined below.

Dream Pairs v Iconix

The nation’s highest court decided—likely the year’s most significant trade mark judgment—that real-world proof of shoppers mistaking one mark for another ‘out in the wild’ suffices to establish infringement. In a much-awaited June 2025 decision, the UK Supreme Court unanimously held that brand owners can base their case on observations of bystanders viewing a product when assessing whether it breaches a trade mark. Joel Smith, partner at Simmons & Simmons LLP, hailed it as a watershed ruling that unequivocally embraces post‑sale confusion and will prompt litigants to cast the net wider for evidence bearing on a likelihood of confusion. Consequently, parties are expected to seek proof from a wider array of real‑world settings, including post‑sale encounters ‘out in the wild’. Historically, courts largely assessed infringement at the point of purchase or by comparing the registered mark with the challenged sign side‑by‑side on a page. The top court instead opted to bolster trade mark protection, concluding that French footwear company Dream Pair’s...

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