Louisa Albertini highlights the importance of a clearly drafted trade mark coexistence agreement
A recent High Court case has confirmed that English courts will enforce trade mark coexistence agreements and allow trade marks to be registered which might impinge upon earlier rights where consent to the registration has been given.
This case (Omega Engineering Incorporated v Omega SA [2010] EWHC 1211 (Ch), 28 May 2010) demonstrates the importance of careful drafting of coexistence agreements to ensure that they clearly set out the ambit of parties’ trade mark rights.
OMEGA—the background facts
Omega SA (Swiss) is a watchmaker that was founded in 1848. An American company, Omega Engineering Inc (Engineering) was founded in 1962 and manufactures and markets products for the measurement and control of certain elements including temperature and humidity.
There has been a long-running dispute between the parties over the use of the OMEGA and ? marks. Although their businesses are quite different, their products bear some similarities. In an attempt to avoid potential confusion, the parties have entered into a number of trade mark coexistence agreements.
The latest case concerned a coexistence
