A London-based ‘insurtech’ start-up has won a trade mark dispute against prominent global insurance broker Marsh, it has emerged in recent days.
According to a report in the Insurance Times, Marsh first launched a trade mark infringement claim against emerging insurtech firm Twin Thinking (t/a Marshmallow) back in 2016, amid concerns that the name its owners had chosen to launch their brand with was too similar to the insurance giant’s own.
Brothers and Marshmallow founders Alexander and Oliver Kent-Braham claimed that they had consulted legal experts prior to selecting an appropriate name – but Marsh insisted that the start-up had infringed its trade mark and ought to change its name immediately.
The brokerage giant said that Marshmallow’s name differed only “by the word ‘mallow’, which could easily be confused by members of the public.”
But the London-based start-up strongly disagreed.
In January this year, the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) intervened to oversee the escalating dispute.
Examining the evidence, it acknowledged that the worlds ‘marshmallow’ and ‘marsh’ indeed contained similarities. However, it insisted that from a consumer’s perspective, they gave off “very different conceptual messages.”
In its judgment, it noted that “the average consumer” would be likely to interpret ‘marsh’ as either “a wet, muddy area of land… [or] a surname,” whereas the word ‘marshmallow’ could only possibly convey one meaning – “a soft, sweet food that is used in some cakes, puddings, and sweets.”
As a result of these findings, the IPO ruled in favour of Marshmallow, agreeing that consumers would be unlikely to be confused between the two names.
One of the start-ups founds described the decision as “a sweet victory.”