Case No. EWHC-11-(IPEC)

44.As noted above, the Defendants originally pleaded that the Claimant and First Defendant entered into a partnership when the First Defendant was established in 1989, and operated as a partnership between 1989 and 2003. That allegation became untenable following the cross-examination of Mr Aitchison, and was therefore dropped on the morning of the second day of the trial. There is therefore no need for me to decide anything about the Claimant’s goodwill in 1989: clearly, the two businesses operated side by side, and consensually, between 1989 and 2003. The Defendants admit that they were using signs which include the word CORMETON with the consent of the Claimant, and could not have done so without that consent. 45.By the end of their counsel’s closing speech, the Defendants did not contest that the Claimant owned protectable goodwill in 2003 at the time of the separation of the two businesses – indeed, they averred that the First Defendant had, by virtue of what was agreed in 2003, been granted a licence to use various indicia, a licence the First Defendant would not have needed if goodwill in CORMETON were owned by the First Defendant and which the Claimant could not give if it did not own the relevant goodwill.