Marshall Group AB & Anor v OWGH Limited

Court: High Court (Intellectual Property Enterprise Court)

Decision date: 30 October 2026

Neutral citation: [2026] EWHC 2753 (IPEC)

Overall AI summary confidence: high

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Short overview

This short overview is intended to summarise the case, issues and outcome so far as they are supported by the judgment.

AI confidence in this short overview: high

This IPEC judgment concerned Marshall Group's claim that Owgh Ltd sold counterfeit Marshall Major V headphones on Amazon, infringing MARSHALL and MAJOR trade marks. The court found test purchases sold by the defendant in the UK were counterfeit (serial numbers not in Marshall's controlled system and physical/packaging discrepancies) and that the defendant failed to prove the goods had been put on the market with the claimants' consent. Judgment was entered for the claimants for trade mark infringement under s.10 TMA; the judge will hear submissions on the form of order if not agreed.

Ratio decidendi

This summary is intended to identify the ratio decidendi, meaning the legal reasons for deciding and the binding part of the decision.

AI confidence in this ratio decidendi summary: high

A proprietor's controlled records showing assigned serial numbers can, if the proprietor's records lack the serial numbers on specimens, support a finding that the goods are not genuine; and the burden is on a defendant to prove that specific goods were put on the UK/EEA market by the proprietor or with its consent—general availability of branded goods from resellers does not suffice to establish consent for particular items.

Obiter dicta

This summary is intended to identify obiter dicta, meaning observations made by the way that were not necessary to deciding the case and are not binding.

AI confidence in this obiter dicta summary: medium

The judgment contains procedural observations that, when a solicitor seeks to come off the record, the court should ensure proper service (potentially requiring a certificate recording date/time of notifications) and that it can be proportionate to proceed with trial in a defendant's absence where the defendant had notice, was offered remote attendance or an adjournment, and the claimant and court had incurred trial preparation costs.

Warning

- Chunk contains duplicated passages; care taken to avoid repeating material.

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