Case No. EWHC-1023-(IPEC)

”, Mr Blum’s further warning that “” and Mr Blum’s repeated references to the need for there to be further discussion as to who Mr Younas could tell of the outcome prior to the hand down. I will not comment on what may or may not be the proper course with regard to embargoed, possibly price sensitive, information in the banking world. However, it seems to me that it should have been clear to Mr Younas, from the heading at the top of the draft judgment set out above and from Mr Blum’s consistent and clear advice, that the outcome of the case was not something that should have been the subject of press releases sent to journalists prior to the formal handing down of the judgment, even on terms that they respected the embargo. 35.Whilst the breach was a serious one and must be seen as such, on the present facts and after careful consideration, I have decided that it is appropriate to accept Mr Younas’ apology as resolving the matter. Match has confirmed that it does not intend to initiate formal contempt proceedings and I do not see the need for the court to do so of its own initiative whether to punish Mr Younas for his past actions or to educate other litigants as to the very serious nature of the embargo. For these purposes, I take the view (similar to that taken by Meade J in Optis v Apple [2021] EWHC 2694 (Pat) at [80]) that it is sufficient for me to express in this judgment my view that what happened was a serious breach of the embargo. I hope that Mr Younas and others will take note for the future of the need to exercise the greatest care in disseminating any information derived from a draft judgment. 36.In reaching this decision, I bear in mind that, whilst I was surprised by Mr Younas’ mistake, I accept that it was a genuine mistake. In this regard, I note that Mr Younas went to some lengths to emphasise that the journalists should respect the embargo and should not publicise the story until after the handing down of the judgment. The fact that he did this suggests that, however mistakenly, he did not realise that he was himself breaching the embargo by providing the journalists with the press release. Whilst he was clearly seeking to manage the publicity that the judgment might attract when handed down, I see no reason to characterise his actions as an intentional and knowing breach of the embargo. 37.Mr Austen criticises the contents of the release pointing out that it was inaccurate for it to say that Muzmatch had lost “a right” to use its name. Mr Austen also complains about the portrayal of Muzmatch as an underdog and about references being made to Match as a “multi-billion dollar company” which was seeking “to stifle competition”. However, in my judgment, this does not require the matter to be escalated to full contempt proceedings, particularly as Match does not see the need to instigate contempt proceedings itself and as it is not clear to me that Muzmatch’s wrongful disclosure of the embargoed press release to journalists has caused Match any real damage. As regards Match’s feeling that Muzmatch has stolen a march in putting its spin on events, the stolen march was only of one day and to counter it, Match could have put together its own press release to be made available to journalists the moment that the judgment was handed down. Insofar as Match feels that matters have been misrepresented, it could seek to correct the position, no doubt referring to relevant parts of the judgment to support its case.