Judge Kelyn Bacon QC found Big Horn’s logo to be similar to Red Bull’s both visually and conceptually. She stated In her ruling, “In those circumstances I consider that the Big Horn signs would indeed be likely to cause the average consumer to link those signs with the Red Bull trademarks, and that the use by Big Horn of those signs takes an unfair advantage of the distinctive character and reputation of Red Bull’s trademarks.”
Bacon also found Enchev liable as a joint tortfeasor. Under British Law, joint tortfeasance is determined by case precedence. Bacon cited Fish & Fish v Sea Shepherd [2015] UKSC 10, [2015] AC 1229, saying, “Those judgments confirm that a defendant will be liable as a joint tortfeasor if (i) the defendant has acted in a way that assisted the commission of the tort by the primary tortfeasor; and (ii) the defendant did so pursuant to a common design to do or assist with the acts that constituted the tort.”
Enchev was directly involved in the running of Big Horn and was in charge of the domain for Big Horn’s website and the running of its social media accounts on which Big Horn’s products were advertised. Enchev also did not dispute that he was the sole director and controlling mind of Big Horn.
Case background
Red Bull has been pursuing trademark infringement against UK based Big Horn since late 2016. Red Bull filed an opposition to Voltino’s EU trademark application in September 2016. The alleged infringements took place from November 2016 onward.
