Fromageries Bel SA v J Sainsbury Plc
Jane Lambert Chancery Division (HH Judge Hacon) Fromageries Bel SA v J Sainsbury Plc [2019] EWHC 3454 (Ch) (12 Dec 2019) This was an appeal against Mr Allan James's decision of 13 Feb 2019 that the registration of the above 3-dimensional sign under trade mark number UK2060882 was invalid. The hearing officer held that 'the colour red' in the description of the mark was insufficiently clear or precise and that a particular hue of red should have been specified. The proprietor's grounds of appeal were as follows: "(1) The Hearing Officer erred in applying the Sieckmann criteria to a mark that is not a colour mark per se. (2) The Hearing Officer erred in failing to interpret the registration as being limited to the red colour shown in the pictorial representation of the registered mark. (3) Alternatively, if the Sieckmann criteria apply to a mark that is not a colour mark per se and if the registration was not already limited, then the...