HP-2020-000016 - [2025] EWHC 1451 (Ch)

Cabo contends that MGA also coerced AB Gee, a toy wholesaler, into dropping Worldeez from its range. It relies on an email to Mr Laughton from Alan McKellar, the general manager of sales at MGA, in June 2018 stating that “AB Gee are well briefed and understand we can remove their distribution agreement at any time, last year they removed Worldeez from their range as per my request”. Mr Michaelson also said that he had been told in around July 2017 that AB Gee had been threatened by MGA and would not be buying any more Worldeez, and were taking the product off their website.

Mr Hunter, the co-owner of AB Gee, was adamant that no-one from MGA ever reached any kind of agreement with him about AB Gee not stocking Worldeez. Indeed, his evidence was that AB Gee’s internal records showed that it had taken stocks of the Worldeez globe, 5-pack and 10-pack in July and August 2017, and that the product was sold by AB Gee until May 2018. He said that AB Gee had not ordered more stock of Worldeez simply because the product wasn’t selling; and that from its initial purchases in July 2017 through to December 2017 AB Gee was never out of stock of any of the Worldeez range. The product was then removed from AB Gee’s ongoing range at the end of 2017. He maintained that if the product had taken off AB Gee would have bought more. He was not able to comment on whether Worldeez was removed from AB Gee’s website, but did not believe that this would have made a difference to sales.

As I have already noted, Mr Hunter was a straightforward witness and I accept his evidence. There is no direct contemporaneous evidence of a threat made to AB Gee, or that AB Gee responded by refraining from placing further orders for the product that would otherwise have been made. Nor has any evidence been adduced as to any changes made to AB Gee’s website. Mr Hunter’s evidence as to the reasons for AB Gee’s failure to re-order Worldeez after the summer of 2017 was entirely credible. I do not, therefore, make any finding of threats made by MGA to AB Gee.