L'Oreal wins smell-a-like case in UK
23 May 2010
James Nurton, Boston
The Court of Appeal in London has reluctantly ruled that L'Oréal can stop a competitor from using its trademarks in lists comparing perfumes with corresponding smells
In a judgment on Friday, the Court said that the EU Trade Marks Directive and Comparative Advertising Directive prevent rivals from saying that their products smell like corresponding famous brands. The decision came following a judgment from the Court of Justice of the EU (CJ) last June.
But in a strongly worded opinion, the UK’s senior IP-specialist judge Lord Justice Jacob said he regretted the outcome as it left the defendants “muzzled” and limited free speech. He said that his own predilection would be to hold that “trade mark law did not prevent traders from...
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