Best Buy Company Inc. and Another v Worldwide Sales Corporations Espana SL
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judgment Date | 24 May 2011 |
| Neutral Citation | [2011] EWCA Civ 618 |
| Date | 24 May 2011 |
| Court | Court of Appeal (Civil Division) |
Court of Appeal
Before Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury, Master of the Rolls, Lord Justice Etherton and Lord Justice Patten
A person threatened another with proceedings for infringement of a registered trade mark within section 21 of the Trade Marks Act 1994 when he stated or implied that he would bring a claim if the other did not agree to the terms he proposed. The test was whether a reasonable recipient would underst and the statements made indicated not simply an assertion of legal rights but an intention to enforce those rights.
The Court of Appeal (Lord Neuberger of Abbotsbury, Master of the Rolls, Lord Justice Etherton and Lord Justice Patten) so held on May 24, 2011, when: (i) allowing the appeal of Best Buy Co Inc and Best Buy Europe Distributions Ltd against Mr Justice Floyd's dismissal ([2010] Bus LR 1761) o f their claim against Worldwide Sales Corporation España SL for threats of proceedings for infringement of a trade mark within section 21 of the 1994 Act, and (ii) granting a declaration that the threats were unjustifiable.
THE MASTER OF THE ROLLS said that the argument of principle was whether the exceptions in section 21(1)(a) to (c) were to be interpreted according to their natural import, or relatively widely.
In his Lordship's view, those three paragraphs were to be construed by reference to their natural meaning and...
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