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Hi,
I sell a number of products online which all have my branding which I have registered. A few months I got a number of complaints from customers and when I followed up, I realised another seller had bought a cheaper but similar product from China and added a logo that looked confusingly similar. Both the style of the box and font are individually protected as well as the complete logo. Although the sellers logo had a slightly different name I am confident he has infringed on my logo as it uses the same font and the box.
Very long story short, I contacted the seller and sent him a letter before action asking him to take down the listing etc. After a few messages back and forth he has agreed and offered me a settlement amount along with a thinly veiled threat stating that if I did not except the offer he would simply close up shop and as a limited company he was not personally responsible for any debt. This has got me thinking can he do this because I know that HMRC can make a director liable if they feel the director has put himself before the interest of the company? In the few messages back and forth he did mention that the company is not doing well and thus I guess he will claim bankruptcy or something similar.
Also, I don’t really care about the amount he is going to pay me, all I really wanted is for him to stop confusing buyers so I will accept the settlement and hopefully him having to pay me will stop him from doing this again. Is there anything I should do or ask for as part of the settlement not including more money or asking for his current stock?
Finally, am I correct in think that if I took this further it would cost me a substantial amount just to get the case heard? My understanding is that something like this would start at a cost of 5k is this correct?
Thanks for your help.
I sell a number of products online which all have my branding which I have registered. A few months I got a number of complaints from customers and when I followed up, I realised another seller had bought a cheaper but similar product from China and added a logo that looked confusingly similar. Both the style of the box and font are individually protected as well as the complete logo. Although the sellers logo had a slightly different name I am confident he has infringed on my logo as it uses the same font and the box.
Very long story short, I contacted the seller and sent him a letter before action asking him to take down the listing etc. After a few messages back and forth he has agreed and offered me a settlement amount along with a thinly veiled threat stating that if I did not except the offer he would simply close up shop and as a limited company he was not personally responsible for any debt. This has got me thinking can he do this because I know that HMRC can make a director liable if they feel the director has put himself before the interest of the company? In the few messages back and forth he did mention that the company is not doing well and thus I guess he will claim bankruptcy or something similar.
Also, I don’t really care about the amount he is going to pay me, all I really wanted is for him to stop confusing buyers so I will accept the settlement and hopefully him having to pay me will stop him from doing this again. Is there anything I should do or ask for as part of the settlement not including more money or asking for his current stock?
Finally, am I correct in think that if I took this further it would cost me a substantial amount just to get the case heard? My understanding is that something like this would start at a cost of 5k is this correct?
Thanks for your help.
