British Telecommunications Plc & Ors v One In A Million Ltd & Ors, Court of Appeal - Civil Division, July 23, 1998, [1999] 1 WLR 903,[1998] 4 All ER 476,[1998] EWCA Civ 1272
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British Telecommunications Plc & Ors v One In A Million Ltd & Ors, Court of Appeal - Civil Division, July 23, 1998, [1999] 1 WLR 903,[1998] 4 All ER 476,[1998] EWCA Civ 1272
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF JUDICATURE CHANI 98/0025/BIN THE COURT OF APPEAL (CIVIL DIVISION) 98/0092-95/BON APPEAL FROM THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICECHANCERY DIVISION(MR JONATHAN SUMPTION QC)Sitting as a Deputy Judge of the High Court Thursday 23rd July 1998 B e f o r e LORD JUSTICE STUART-SMITH LORD JUSTICE SWINTON THOMAS LORD JUSTICE ALDOUS (1) BRITISH TELECOMMUNICATIONS PLC (2) VIRGIN ENTERPRISES LTD (3) J SAINSBURY PLC (4) MARKS & SPENCER PLC (5) LADBROKE GROUP PLC Respondents v. ONE IN A MILLION LTD AND OTHERS Appellants (Handed down transcript of Smith Bernal Reporting Limited, 180 Fleet Street London EC4A 2HD Tel: 0171 421 4040 Official Shorthand Writers to the Court) MR ALASTAIR WILSON QC and MR MICHAEL HICKS (instructed by Messrs Finers, London W1N 6LS) appeared on behalf of the Appellants (Defendants). MR GEOFFREY HOBBS QC and MR MALCOLM CHAPPLE (instructed by Messrs Alan Whitfield, London EC1A 7AJ) appeared on behalf of the BT and Cellnet).MR GEOFFREY HOBBS QC and MR JAMES MELLOR (instructed by S.J. Berwin & Co, London WC1X 8HB) appeared on behalf of Marks & Spencers, Ladbroke and Sainsbury and (instructed by Messrs Harbottle & Lewis, London W1R 0BE) appeared on behalf of Virgin. J U D G M E N T (As approved by the court) ©Crown CopyrightLORD JUSTICE ALDOUS: There are before this Court appeals in five actions. Those actions came before Mr Jonathan Sumption QC sitting as a deputy judge of the High Court. On 28 November l997 he granted summary judgment under O.l4 as the defendants had threatened to pass off and infringe the registered trade marks of the plaintiffs (1998) FSR 265. In each case the first defendant was One In A Million Limited, a company owned and controlled by its two directors, Mr Conway and Mr Nicholson. They are the second and third defendants. The fourth defendant, Global Media, and fifth defendant, Junic, are firms through which Mr Conway and Mr Nicholson trade. Each of the defendants has done acts alleged to infringe the rights of a plaintiff, but resolution of the issues in this appeal does not depend upon the identity of any particular defendant. I will refer to them generally as the appellants except where it is necessary to differentiate between them. The appellants are dealers in Internet domain names. They register them and sell them. They have made a speciality of registering domain names for use on the Internet comprising well-known names and trade marks without the consent of the person or company owning the goodwill in the name or trade mark. Examples are the registration and subsequent offer for sale to Burger King by the second defendant of the domain name burgerking.co.uk for £25,000 plus VAT and of bt.org to British Telecommunications for £4,700 plus VAT. The plaintiffs Marks & Spencer Plc, J Sainsbury Plc, Virgin Enterprises Ltd, British Telecommunications Plc, Telecom Securior Cellular Radio Ltd, Ladbrokes Plc are well-known companies. In the actions brought by them, they allege that the activities of the appellants amount to passing-off, to infringement of their well-known registered trade marks, to threats of passing-off and infringement, and to wrongful acts such as to entitle them to injunctive relief. Their complaints stem from the registration by One In A Million Ltd of ladbrokes.com;sainsbury.com; sainsburys...See the full content of this document
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