Patents County Court gives non-binding preliminary opinion in trade mark infringement action

The Patents County Court has given a non-binding preliminary opinion in a trade mark infringement action brought by Weight Watchers (UK) Ltd in relation to its registered trade marks.  From 2006, the defendants had sold sandwiches under the trade mark WAIST WATCHERS.  They registered this mark after they had been trading for a while under this mark.  At the case management conference for the hearing, HHJ Birss suggested to the parties that this would be an appropriate case for him to give a preliminary and non-binding opinion as to the merits of the case, and the parties agreed to this. On reviewing the available evidence, the judge concluded there was a strong case that the defendants' WAIST WATCHERS trade mark infringed the claimant’s WEIGHT WATCHERS marks under the Trade Marks Act and that the WAIST WATCHERS marks were probably invalid. This decision shows how flexible judges in the Patents County Court may be at the case management conference stage of an action when the parties are in agreement on the proposed procedure.  While the opinion was not binding, it could assist the parties in agreeing a settlement out of court. (Weight Watchers (UK) Ltd and others v Love Bites Ltd [2012])