Court Upholds Samherji's Intellectual Property Rights
Today, judgment was handed down in the UK in a case brought by Samherji hf. for infringement of its trademark rights. The court upheld all of Samherji's claims.
The defendant in the case, Oddur Eysteinn Fridriksson, registered a website in the name of Samherji with a British domain registration last year where he utilised the company's trademark and other intellectual property. The website appeared to be Samherji’s official UK website. Furthermore, he sent out false press releases in the company's name. Today, under the Business and Property Courts of England and Wales, the High Court of Justice ruled that Samherji's intellectual property rights had been violated. Arguments regarding artistic performance were rejected.
In the judgment, it is established that the use of Samherji's logo in the design of the website was done "to give the website authenticity and not for the purpose of criticism or review or quotation" and that the whole design of the website was intended to make it appear to be the official website of Samherji. The court concluded that the design of the website did not constitute artistic caricature, parody or pastiche, which is within the boundaries of freedom of expression enjoyed by artists.
Furthermore, the judge concluded that the domain name and website "were instruments of fraud in the sense that they were set up with the deliberate intention of deception and in the knowledge that their content was false." The court found that the above does not constitute illegal restrictions on the freedom of expression, as freedom of expression can be subject to restrictions due to the legitimate rights of others, including intellectual property rights.
"We are, of course, satisfied with the result. We were forced to take legal action to protect our trademark when all other lenient resolutions were rejected. The ruling clearly distinguishes between legitimate artistic expression and the misuse of a registered trademark. This judgment must be a matter of serious consideration for the academic institutions that gave their blessing to obvious trademark violations under the guise of artistic expression," says Thorsteinn Már Baldvinsson, CEO of Samherji.
