Injunction granted to boohoo.com in Miss Boo trading name dispute

On-line fashion retailer, boohoo.com has obtained an interim injunction to prevent a rival on-line retailer trading under the Miss Boo and missboo.com names.

Boohoo.com is a successful on-line clothing, footwear and accessories retailer, with a turnover of £8 million last year and a target market of women aged 17-25. The Miss Boo business was launched in September 2009, also selling clothes, shoes and accessories in competition with Boohoo.com.
Boohoo.com argued that the Miss Boo business infringed its registered trade marks (for Boo, Boohoo and Boohoo.com) and was passing off.

The Judge agreed, finding that the Boohoo.com business had a sufficient reputation and goodwill in its names and that the activities of the Miss Boo business would be likely to cause confusion.

Evidence of actual confusion had been put forward – from a fashion brand promoter and to the effect that people searching on-line using Miss Boo as a search term had a very high frequency of clicking through to the Boohoo.com website, a link to which was displayed. The Judge appeared to have been influenced more by the evidence from the promoter, rather than the statistical evidence.

Significantly, the Judge took the view that irreparable harm could be caused if the Miss Boo goods were inferior, and he noted that the Miss Boo business did not have significant assets.

This is a case which shows that seeking an interim injunction against a newly formed rival business which is misusing your intellectual property can be an effective remedy if you act quickly.

The case also demonstrates that evidence of confusion is crucial in persuading a Judge to grant an interim injunction in a case like this. This is important to bear in mind if you experience confusion between your business and another.