Recent Cases

Rxworks v Hunter

The claimant brought proceedings for unjustified threats against the defendant who was the proprietor of the mark “VET.LOCAL”.  The claimant was an IT company providing services to veterinary businesses and had used VET.LOCAL as the local network domain on computer networks it had set up.  The defendant had written to the claimant alleging that the mark VET.LOCAL was sometimes displayed onscreen, constituting an infringement.
The judge granted the claimant summary judgment: the phrase was deep in the computer settings and only likely to be noticed by experiences administrators or IT professionals who would recognise it for what it was.  Further, the use did not constitute trade mark use since it was not denoting the origin of goods or services.