Friday 10th September 2010 12.52pm
Post your Events Walker Morris Secures Victory In Court Of Appeal In Major Trade Mark Dispute
Starts… Law firm Walker Morris has successfully advised the world famous Hotel Cipriani in Venice, the favourite destination of royalty, film stars, politicians and celebrities, in a Court of Appeal case to protect its trade mark.
The Hotel, which is owned by Orient-Express Hotels Ltd has successfully defended an appeal in a trade mark infringement and passing off case relating to the CIPRIANI mark against the operators of the restaurant 'Cipriani London' in Mayfair, London.
The success follows on from the victory Walker Morris secured in the High Court in December 2008 for the Hotel. That hearing, which lasted for nine days, featured evidence from a string of witnesses including Michael Winner, the hotel, restaurant and food critic.
The Court of Appeal found in favour of Hotel Cipriani on all accounts. The judgment (which confirmed that the Hotel's registrations for CIPRIANI were valid and subsisting and that the Hotel's CIPRIANI brand was a well known mark under international law) means that members of the Cipriani family, who still own the famous Harry’s Bar in Venice but who sold their interests in the Hotel more than forty years ago, can no longer use the Cipriani name on their restaurant in the UK. They must also pay damages and costs and publicise the decision on the restaurant's menus.
Patrick Cantrill, the Head of Intellectual Property at Walker Morris commented that:
"...we are delighted that the Court of Appeal has confirmed the robust and thorough decision of the High Court and has vindicated the action taken by our clients. Moreover, the judgment is a significant decision and will be read with interest by intellectual property practitioners dealing as it does with issues of bad faith, own name defences, the location of goodwill versus reputation and last but not least that of well known marks. We believe that this is the first time that the Court of Appeal has addressed section 56 of the Act – that dealing with well known marks".
This success follows on from the Intellectual Property Department acting in a complex patent dispute with a value in excess of £5 million, in a marathon 18 day hearing before the High Court, which has now been very satisfactorily resolved. In December, the Walker Morris IP and Trade Marks and Designs Team won the World Leaders International IP Award for Trademark Excellence/Litigation in EMEA.
In addition to the team from Walker Morris, the Cipriani Hotel was represented by Iain Purvis QC and Benet Brandreth of 11. South Square and also assisted by the legal department of Orient Express, the Hotel's parent company
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