The British Court of Appeal has ruled in favour of R Griggs Group Ltd. in a battle over the copyright of the Dr Martens logo that has spanned 17 years.

In 1988, Griggs commissioned an advertising agency, who in turn commissioned a freelancer, Ross Evans, to combine its existing “Dr Martens” and “Air Wair” logos into one mark.

Ross Evans then sold the copyright to Raben, an Australian footwear company, which is now in dispute with Griggs. Griggs has since been seeking to take ownership of the trademark to use on products in both the UK and abroad.

The Court of Appeal commented:"If an officious bystander had asked at the time of the contract whether Mr Evans was going to retain rights in the combined logo which could be used against the client [Griggs] by Mr Evans (or by anyone to whom he sold the rights) anywhere in the world, other than in respect of point of sale material in the UK, the answer would surely have been 'of course not."

Mike Lynd, a UK patent and trademark attorney, commented: “This is a victory for brand owners who quite rightly ought to be able to expect to own the rights to any trade marks which they commission. Evans is merely the latest in a long line of creators of trade mark logos who have sought to retain rights in their creations to the detriment of their patrons. Although this case once again makes it clear that the law is on the side of the brand owner, it points up the need to avoid such long and costly disputes over the copyright ownership by the parties making sure that they come to an agreement at the outset of the relationship.  If the client expects to own the copyright this should be explicitly agreed with the supplier via a written assignment of the legal title, backed up by a trade mark registration.  Freelance designers of logos should certainly not assume that they own the copyright simply because they are the creators.”

Share this story: