Spicerhaart loses court battle to Fine & Country

Spicerhaart has lost its court battle against Fine & Country after the High Court found that Spicerhaart’s Fine brand was a ‘passing off’ and an infringement of copyright.

But the long-running battle – the judgment alone took months to deliver – is far from over and looks set to intensify.

The court’s decision requires Spicerhaart to undertake various remedies including the rebranding of its Fine business, said Fine in a statement after the judgment was delivered.

But Spicerhaart immediately said it had never had any intention of passing off and that it will seek leave to appeal. It also said that because the case is subject to appeal, it will not be changing its Fine advertising.

Meanwhile, Fine & Country is to seek damages.

Malcolm Lindley, managing director of GPEA – the parent company of Fine & Country –was cockahoop at the court’s decision.

He said: “We are pleased that justice has prevailed, and the widespread confusion that has arisen amongst customers from Fine imitating the Fine & Country brand will now end.

“We took this action reluctantly to protect the innocent man on the street, our award-winning brand, and our licensees’ businesses, which have suffered through the confusion caused by the operation of this copycat brand.

“We would like to assure our loyal customers that it will be business as usual and thank them for their unwavering support.”
 
Fine & Country’s CEO Matthew Pryke, formerly a partner and solicitor with law firm Wallace LLP, represented the company in court.

He said: “We are delighted with the judgment to right this injustice and to protect the unknowing consumer from imitators in the marketplace.

“This has been a prolonged, hard fought and costly legal action and we are delighted to be able to move forward with confidence and focus on the next chapter of the brand’s exciting growth and development.”
 
But Spicerhaart made it clear that the battle is far from over, and stressed that the court has not stopped it from using the word ‘fine’.

Its statement said: “Spicerhaart notes the decision of the court in the case brought by Fine & Country, who claimed that we could not use our own FINE brand as it was ‘passing off’ as Fine & Country.

“Whilst the decision of passing off has gone against us, we are delighted that the judge did not rule against our use of the word FINE per se, only its branding style. FINE is a generic word that any estate agency can use.

“We never intended that our own upmarket brand FINE should be mistaken for Fine & Country. We are now preparing for the lengthy appeal process against the judge’s verdict. We have no further comment at this stage.”
 
It is understood that the court battle so far will have cost each side a figure running into six figures.

The Spicerhaart appeal may be mounted on the grounds that, if the decision took five months to deliver, it could have been a close call. Also, it is understood that whilst Fine & Country mustered witnesses to say they were confused between the two brands, Fine did not produce witnesses to say they were not confused, and wants the opportunity to do that.

Fine & Country operates out of some 300 different outlets, with franchisees across the UK and in 11 overseas countries.