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A High Court Judge's ruling today delayed Arsenal's attempt to
stop a street trader selling Arsenal branded unofficial merchandise near the stadium on matchdays. Arsenal have lost the first leg, but could still qualify for Europe....
The club's claim was firstly that Matthew Reed (Gooner)
was guilty of trademark infringement by using the club's
name and logos as trademarks on merchandise, and secondly that he was
"passing off" the merchandise as official stuff.
Mr Justice Laddie (sic) upheld Reed's claim that the name
and logos were being used as "badges of allegiance", not as trademarks, thus negating both the club's arguments.
Mr Reed is back on his pitch, but it's not all over yet.
Laddie ruled that the marks were not being used as trademarks but pointed out that this doesn't necessarily mean they're not in breach of trademark legislation.
Apparently this question (whatever it actually means once translated from legalese) can only be answered by the European Court of Justice. On May 1 the case will return to court, for a hearing to decide whether Arsenal can appeal or
whether it should go straight to UEFA.
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