Equisafety Limited v Battle, Hayward and Bower Limited & Anor
Decision date: 21 July 2023
Neutral citation: [2023] EWHC 1821 (IPEC)
Overall AI summary confidence: high
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 is an account of profits following findings that Battle infringed and passed off Equisafety's MERCURY trade mark; the judge accepted Battle's disclosed gross profit for the packaging period (£24,356), excluded 500 repackaged phone holders from the account, allowed deduction of general overheads at 14%, and attributed 60% of post-overhead profit to the infringement, yielding a disgorgeable sum of £12,568 plus interest to be calculated as directed. Parties were ordered to agree the final sums and form of order.
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
Where an account of profits is elected the court must identify the defendant's actual profit from the infringing acts, deduct allowable direct costs and a fair proportion of general overheads (the sales-revenue method being an acceptable basis where supported), and apportion net profit to reflect the extent to which the infringement drove sales; the court may apply a broad-brush percentage where precise attribution is not practicable.
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 indicates as obiter that a claimant who elects an account of profits cannot later seek remedies under the IP Enforcement Regulations claimed only at liability, that witness credibility and completeness of disclosure materially affect the weight given to documentary explanations, and that licence royalty rates are not determinative of the proportion of profit attributable to mark-driven sales.
Warning
Contains duplicated/repetitive material and formatting artefacts in the source chunk. Notes contain duplicated/repetitive material and formatting artefacts; they may be incomplete.