The Dispute Resolution team at St James' Square have recently settled a claim on behalf of Old English Company Ltd.
The claim, against fashion retailer New Look, related to allegations of copyright infringement surrounding a “You’ve Got This” keyring (pictured) which had been created, manufactured and retailed by Old English, a market leader for high-quality giftware items.
Old English had become aware of a near identical product which had been manufactured and offered for sale by New Look in clear breach of Old English’s copyright in its design. It was noted that the infringing product had replicated the same style, layout and lettering of Old English’s product including intricate details such as the colouring of the lettering.
Old English, who settled a previous copyright infringement claim in 2020 with a national supermarket chain, commenced pre-action correspondence with New Look. However, St James’ Square received instructions shortly after to advise on the merits of the claim, develop a case strategy and progress the claim against New Look. Following several rounds of pre-action correspondence with New Look and its instructed IP specialist law firm, the matter reached settlement without the need to escalate to proceedings. The terms of the settlement are confidential.
Connor Cartledge, Solicitor in the Dispute Resolution team, said, “Old English work very hard to design and create products, which are sold in leading retailers such as Harrods and Selfridges. I am very pleased that Old English has successfully enforced its intellectual property rights, again, and achieved a brilliant settlement with New Look. Our Dispute Resolution team always endeavour to obtain the best possible settlement for our clients, and I am happy to have done so again for Old English.”