Intellectual Property Enterprise Court

Claim No: IP-2022-000053 - [2025] EWHC 1827 (IPEC)

Fecha: 24-Jul-2025

Goodwill

Goodwill

122.

There is no doubt in my mind that Ms Martin has, and had at all relevant times, the requisite goodwill in the United Kingdom to found an action for passing off. There was plenty of evidence before me of activity she has undertaken in the United Kingdom to foster that goodwill – the attractive force that brings in custom: IRC v Muller & Co's Margarine [1901] AC 217. The following examples, taken from the evidence, all support the existence of that goodwill, or acknowledge/celebrate it. In saying that Ms Martin had the requisite goodwill at the relevant times, I have taken care in relation to events occurring after the relevant dates (such as the award to Ms Martin by HM the King of an MBE): goodwill is rarely generated overnight, so events after the relevant dates can in some circumstances provide support for the existence of goodwill as at the relevant dates. I have listed below some only of the indications of goodwill – but I have taken into account all of the evidence that was before me.

In November 2016, Ms Martin participated in a special event at Tate Modern, London, showcasing her work;

ii)

She had a solo show in London in 2021;

iii)

Ms Martin has over 11,000 UK-based followers on Instagram, 20,000 followers on X (formerly Twitter); 50,000 subscribers on YouTube (where her videos have attracted thousands of views); 97,000 Tumblr followers and 70,000 followers on LinkedIn (not all these followers are UK-based, and not all relate to figures before the relevant dates, but they give some idea of Ms Martin’s breadth and depth of support);

iv)

Ms Martin was awarded an honorary fellowship from the University of the Arts, London in 2024;

Ms Martin’s works are used to teach in UK schools;

vi)

Since 2013, Ms Martin has commercialised her work by engaging in collaboration and/or endorsement agreements. Examples of endorsement deals which targeted the UK include:

Jose Cuervo in 2017;

Puma in 2018;

The North Face in 2020;

Absolut in 2020;

Liquid Icons in 2021 – Ms Martin was Artistic Director of the Golden Vines awards, with an event hosted in London;

The Financial Times in 2021 including an event in London; and

Grind Coffee in 2023.

123.

There is no doubt in my mind that Ms Martin had the requisite goodwill at the time the First Label was first offered to the public in the United Kingdom, which goodwill continued as the Second Label and Third Label were first offered to the public in the United Kingdom. There is a question of what Ms Martin’s goodwill was in. This is not the case of a plastic lemon filled with juice where the goodwill resides in the getup of a single, mass-produced item. Rather, goodwill is said to exist in Ms Martin’s entire artistic output. That therefore needs some further clarification.

124.

The Particulars of Claim set out the primary claim – “Ms Martin has a distinctive graphic line-work style which renders her works instantly recognisable”. This is then further defined by what is described in the Particulars of Claim as The Style. Goodwill is said to subsist in The Style:

a black-and-white palette;

ii)

lines created by, or appearing to be created by, a bold marker pen;

iii)

fluid and continuous lines which overlap and interface with other sections of line;

iv)

line work which includes curves and small loops;

the ends of line work used as a feature to create shape and visual impact, sometimes accompanied with dashed or dotted lines;

vi)

such line-work building up to create two-dimensional abstracted drawings which reveal recognisable figurative and landscape elements, and

vii)

such figurative and landscape elements being without perspective or a sense of unified space within the overall piece.

125.

The definition of The Style is very similar to, but not exactly the same as, the feature analysis advanced in relation to the Claimants’ copyright infringement case.

126.

Unlike for the purposes of the copyright case, it is necessary to set out in words the elements which make up Ms Martin’s goodwill. In most passing off cases, this is easier – as it was for the plastic lemon in the Jif Lemon case. Describing an artist’s style is more complicated, and nothing I say in trying to do so is intended to offend Ms Martin, who has clearly been very successful as an artist and as a business person, including in her licensing and endorsement work. As with the feature analysis crafted for the purposes of the copyright infringement case, I do not consider that the definition of The Style in the Particulars of Claim adequately or properly captures the key elements of Ms Martin’s goodwill. Rather, it appears to have been drafted, carefully, so as to attempt to encompass the First Label, Second Label and Third Label, each of which could be said to exhibit some of the elements listed.

127.

As set out above in relation to the copyright claim, it seems to me that it is easier to demonstrate Ms Martin’s goodwill with images than with words. I have set out in this judgment numerous depictions of her work taken from the evidence. Her goodwill subsists in that work. Particularly, it seems to me that her work, overall, exhibits the following characteristics:

black line drawings on a white background;

ii)

two-dimensional imagery, with an absence of perspective; and

iii)

as described by Mr Duff, a “map-like” look, or patchwork with an unusual mix of humanoid faces with geographical features such as mountains.

128.

There is, of course, more to her work, and, as I have said, that simple description of what I perceive from the evidence to be the main aspects of it is not intended to offend Ms Martin. Quite to the contrary – her work is clearly highly successful. But it is easier to show it than to say it – the images I have excerpted in this judgment demonstrate Ms Martin’s work and the goodwill that attaches to it in the United Kingdom much better than my attempt to describe it.