Umbro owner Iconix loses appeal in trademark case against Dream Pairs

Iconix, the parent company of sportswear brand Umbro, has lost an appeal in a legal dispute over trademarks against footwear manufacturer Dream Pairs. The UK Supreme Court has allowed the appeal filed by Dream Pairs, which had challenged an initial ruling over logo design.

The case comes in regards to two registered trademarks held by Iconix for Umbro, which has long used its signature double-diamond logo on football boots and other branded products. In 2018, Dream Pairs released footwear branded with a ‘DP sign’ in the UK, igniting tensions between the two companies.

Iconix initially sued Dream Pairs back in July 2022, claiming that the manufacturer’s DP design “was likely to cause confusion on the part of the public”. The High Court initially dismissed Iconix’s claim, finding there was “a very low degree of similarity” between the two signs.

Iconix moved to appeal to the England and Wales Court of Appeal, however, and it was later decided that there was a “likelihood of confusion” between the designs. This ruling, in turn, was appealed by Dream Pairs to the UK Supreme Court in 2024.

The court has now unanimously allowed the appeal, however, a press release noted that it rejected Dream Pairs’ argument that “realistic post-sale circumstances cannot be taken into account in order to assess similarity”. Only post-sale confusion that jeopardises the function of a trademark as a guarantee of origin in a transactional context can be deemed “actionable infringement”, the court has decided.