The 8 ½ year trade mark dispute between Sky and SkyKick has finally reached its conclusion in the UK Supreme Court, following a reference to the European Court of Justice in 2020. The parties reached a worldwide settlement after the appeal hearing and requested the court not to deliver judgment, but the Supreme Court proceeded to issue its judgment due to the significant public interest in the issues of trade mark validity and scope.
The Supreme Court upheld the High Court's finding of partial invalidity in certain SKY trademarks on the grounds that the breadth of its trade mark filings exceeded its use and commercial rationale. The Court also confirmed that one of SkyKick's two services, Cloud Backup, infringes Sky's remaining valid trademarks.
Geoffrey Hobbs KC and Philip Roberts KC appeared for the respondent Sky Ltd in the appeal.
A copy of the Press Summary and Judgment can be found here and here.
View Judgment