BACKGROUND
The Plaintiff’s claim is for infringement of its industrial design and passing off for which it sought a permanent injunction restraining the Defendant from further infringement.
The Plaintiff is a producer of gumboots since 2012 and has been in the business of producing the same under the MIGOO trademark. The Defendant Company began selling and distributing gumboots very similar to those of the Plaintiff and registered the trademark in 2018 before the Plaintiff. The actions of the Defendant undercut the profits of the Plaintiff since their gumboots were cheaper on the market and attracted the buyers of the Plaintiff.
The questions before court were whether the action of the Defendant infringed the industrial design of the Plaintiff in respect of the gumboots and whether the Defendant passed off his gumboots as those Plaintiff.
