Sir Thomas Beecham (the conductor and impresario connected with the London Philharmonic) once quipped that he had never conducted any music composed by the German musician Stockhausen but that he had once trod in some.
Beecham, who died in 1961 would be pleased to hear that standards of dog toilet training have reached new highs, although a trade mark dispute involving two businesses making natural litter trays reported in today's Times reminds us of the importance of protecting your trade mark. In one corner is the business Makeality which is reported to be suing for damages for trade mark infringement and passing off in relation to its Piddle Patch brand. In the other corner is its rival City Doggo (the owner of the Oui Oui Patch brand) which is defending the allegations. Although, in trade mark terms these brands have a degree of conceptual similarity, it is interesting to question how far beyond that the resemblances go. According to the report, "the court was told that City Doggo admitted using various versions of "Piddle Patch" in its marketing and has now promised not to do so again".
For the time being, it appears that an appeal against a decision of the Intellectual Property Division of the High Court to transfer the case to the small claims track has failed. We will now have to wait for a final decision on the question of infringement and passing off before a final judgement can be made.
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