British comedy business the "Glee Club" had claimed victory in 2014 after a judge ruled its trademark had been infringed by 20th Century Fox. And now, 20th Century Fox may be forced to change the name of its hit TV show "Glee" after losing the first round of its Appeal Court battle with UK comedy club chain with the same name.
According to Worldipreview, the producer of US TV show "Glee" has lost an appeal against an earlier ruling, which it was found liable for trademark infringement following a battle against a London-based comedy club called the "Glee Club".
In a decision made on February 8, the English Court of Appeal sided with London-based Glee Club in its dispute with 20th Century Fox. The court confirmed that "Glee Club", owned by Umbrella Organization Comic Enterprises, had trademarked for its name infringed by 20th Century Fox's hit TV show "Glee".
The owner of a British comedy business called the "Glee Club" had claimed its victory in 2014 after a high court judge ruled that its trademark had been infringed by the US television show. The same judge rejected the claim that they were guilty of passing off, ruling that in law there had been no falsification.
But then that the court fight seems to still continue as both sides also want to argue that the rulings are incompatible with European law. 20th Century Fox has already been ordered to pay £100,000 in fines that could run into millions.
Rejecting the appeal over the finding of infringement, Lord Justice Kitchin stated via The Guardian "there exists a likelihood of confusion". Comic Enterprises opened its first "Glee Club" in 1994, given that the venues for live stand-up comedy.
On the other hand, 20th Century Fox could even be forced to change the name of "Glee" in the UK after losing an Appeal Court legal battle with a British comedy club chain of the same name. Fox bosses claimed that it would be a "disaster" if it had to modify the hit TV series' name, which is worth millions of dollars and has been expanded into a franchise that includes worldwide tours, CDs and reality television competitions, as reported by the Dailymail UK.
For now, in rejecting the appeal over the finding of infringement Lord Justice Kitchin insists that "there exists a likelihood of confusion." Moreover, the company still claims that rebranding is very costly and inconvenient.
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