Prominent fashion brand, Mango, has had its appeal against YanGo International dismissed by the UK Intellectual Property Office (UKIPO) in recent days.
The case between the clothing company and the machine manufacturer stems back to 2016, when the latter applied to the Intellectual Property Office to register the trademark ‘YanGo’.
Mango, which is owned by a company called Consolidated Artists, objected to the application and sought to have it dismissed, based on the grounds that it would lead to a claim for passing off.
Passing off is defined as making a false representation in order to make somebody believe that a product or service is that of another.
The fashion brand argued that ‘Mango’, an unregistered trademark, had been in use since 2000 throughout the UK. However, this was rejected at the time by the IPO hearing officer, leading to the appeal brought by Consolidated Artists.
In his ruling, the IPO hearing officer had said: “The distinctions between the two marks are such that there is no misrepresentation [as] the different opening letter of each word is obvious and changes not only the look and sound of the marks, but also the conceptual impression.”
Mango contested this at its appeal, but Emma Himsworth QC upheld the ruling, saying that she had to be satisfied there was a “distinct and material error of principle” in the previous decision for her to overrule or alter it.
Mango was ordered to pay YanGo £50 towards the cost of the appeal, in addition to the £450 previously awarded to the industrial manufacturer.