NIPC Law

Jane Lambert Court of Appeal (Lady Justice Gloster and Lord Justices Patten and Richards)  Caspian Pizza Ltd and Others v Shah and Anothe r [2017] EWCA Civ 1874 (23 Nov 2017)   In  Caspian Pizza Ltd and Others v Shah and Another [2015] EWHC 3567 (IPEC) (9 Dec 2015) Judge Hacon dismissed a claim for trade mark infringement and passing off. The trade marks relied upon were the device mark that appears above and the word mark CASPIAN. The judge declared the word mark invalid because the defendants had run a restaurant called "CASPIAN" in another part of the country which constituted an "earlier right" within the meaning of s.5 (4) of the Trade Marks Act 1994. However, he did not declare the device mark invalid on the ground that the defendants had no goodwill in the running chef logo.   I blogged about the case in  Caspian Pizza Ltd and Others v Shah and Another   on 24 Jan 2016. The claimants appealed to the Court of Appeal against the inval...

The sign that appears above is registered as a trade mark for Meat, fish, poultry and game; meat extracts; preserved, dried and cooked fruits and vegetables; jellies, jams, compotes; eggs, milk and milk products; edible oils and fats; prepared meals; soups and potato crisps; canned foodstuffs; pizza toppings; preparations for making pizza toppings; dried preparations for use as pizza toppings; ingredients for making pizzas in class 29 in the name of Caspian Holding Franchise Limited under trade mark number 2,559,245 with effect from 21 Sept 2010. Until 12 Jan 2016 it had been registered to Behzad Zarandi ( Mr Zarandi" ) and Nadar Zand ( "Mr Zand" ). Until that date Mr Zarandi and Mr Zand also owned UK trade mark number 2,396,396 whereby the word CASPIAN had been registered for restaurant services, take-away food services and catering in services in class 43 with effect from 8 July 2005. Caspian Pizza Ltd.  ( "CP" ) run a chain of pi...