Pinsent Masons advises Interflora on High Court win

23 May 2013 | 09:14 am | 1 min. read

International law firm Pinsent Masons has successfully advised Interflora on its High Court battle with Marks and Spencer plc. over the use of Google AdWords.

On Tuesday, 21 May 2013, the High Court of England and Wales handed downits judgment in the long running case of Interflora, Inc. and InterfloraBritish Unit versus Marks and Spencer plc.  Mr Justice Arnold ruled infavour of Interflora, Inc. and Interflora British Unit, finding thatMarks and Spencer's use of the "Interflora" trade mark as a GoogleAdWord to advertise its M&S Flowers & Gifts website was trade markinfringement.  

Mr Justice Arnold said:

"the M&S advertisements which are the subject of Interflora's claim didnot enable reasonably well-informed and reasonably attentive internetusers to ascertain whether the service referred to in the advertisementsoriginated from [M&S or Interflora] ... On the contrary, as at 6 May2008, a significant proportion of the consumers who searched for"interflora" and the other Signs, and then clicked on M&S'sadvertisements displayed in response to those searches, were led tobelieve, incorrectly, that M&S's flower delivery service was part of theInterflora network."  

This judgment marks the conclusion of the trial of a legal case thatbegan in 2008 and involved hearings before the Court of Justice ofEuropean Union and the UK Court of Appeal before finally returning tothe High Court for trial.  

Rhys Hughes, president of Interflora British Unit, said: 

"This ruling helps ensure that when consumers search on the internet for"Interflora", they can be confident in knowing that the flowers boughtonline come from a member of the Interflora network.  Keywordadvertising is a very powerful tool and so it is vital for consumerprotection that internet search results take consumers directly to thebrands they are looking for.  The Interflora brand stands for qualityand service, a reputation we have been building, with our network ofindependent florists, since 1923."

Iain Connor, a Partner who led the Pinsent Masons team advising on thecase, said:

"It seems prescient that in the week of the Chelsea Flower show, thecourt has decided in favour of Interflora, ruling that M&S infringed the'Interflora' trade mark by using it to promote M&S flowers on theinternet using the Google AdWords programme. I am delighted forInterflora which has worked very hard for this decision in the fiveyears since this action began."

The judgment means that Marks and Spencer cannot bid on the trade markedterm "Interflora" in the Google AdWords programme.  The case will returnto court later in the year to determine how much Marks and Spencer mustpay Interflora, Inc. and Interflora British Unit by way of damages andcosts.  Each party may seek permission to appeal.

Latest press releases

Show me all press releases

Pinsent Masons hires senior finance partner Nick Tostivin to lead its Finance team in London

Multinational law firm Pinsent Masons has appointed partner Nick Tostivin to join its rapidly expanding financial services team in London, where he will lead the Finance team.

Pinsent Masons recognised in China Business Law Journal's Deals of the Year 2023

Multinational law firm Pinsent Masons has been recognised in the Projects Deal of the Year category of the China Business Law Journal’s (CBLJ) Deals of the Year 2023 list for the firm’s work on the landmark NEOM Smart City Project in Saudi Arabia.

Pinsent Masons advises Bestinver Infra, FCR on acquisition of remaining shares in Irish toll road concession & operation companies

Pinsent Masons has advised Bestinver Infra, FCR on the acquisition of the remaining shares in N6 (Concession) Holdings Limited and N6 (Operations) Ltd, with Japanese co-investor Daiwa Energy & Infrastructure Co. Ltd.

People who viewed this press release also viewed

Show me all press releases

Pinsent Masons appoints two partners and team of lawyers to launch TMT practice in Australia

Multinational law firm Pinsent Masons has appointed James Arnott and Veronica Scott and a team of lawyers to launch the firm’s Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) practice in Australia.

Pinsent Masons advises supervisory board of Telefónica Deutschland Holding in connection with the public tender offer of Telefónica

Multinational law firm Pinsent Masons has advised the supervisory board of Telefónica Deutschland Holding AG in connection with the public tender offer of its Spanish majority shareholder Telefónica, S.A.

Pinsent Masons boosts technology and data offering in financial services with dual hire

Multinational law firm Pinsent Masons has appointed partners Paul Hinton and Ed Baker to join the firm’s Technology, Media, and Telecoms (TMT) team in London.

For all media enquiries, including arranging an interview with one of our spokespeople, please contact the press office on

+44 (0)20 7418 8199 or 

Location contacts

We are processing your request. \n Thank you for your patience. An error occurred. This could be due to inactivity on the page - please try again.