Unregistered rights are protected by the law of passing off in the UK. The Claimant in a recent case (Stone v Wenman), a spiritual author and holistic therapist, applied for and registered the mark ARCHANGEL ALCHEMY in 2019 in relation to training courses. She then brought a claim against the Defendant, active in the same field, for infringing her registered right. The Defendant filed a counterclaim in passing off, claiming that she had in fact been using the sign ARCHANGEL ALCHEMY since 2010 to offer her services. This recent decision of the IPEC has some interesting takeaways about some key principles in the law of passing off.
You can read the full article here on the Wolters Kluwer Trade Mark blog.