Miss World does not take the crown in namesake trade mark battle

Beauty contest, Miss World, tried and failed to prevent a namesake competition registering a trade mark in the UK.

The mark in question was for ‘Miss Beauty World’ which was displayed in a logo with an image of a tiara, globe and a pair of wings.

The mark was applied for by World Modelling Industries Association in class 41 for beauty pageants and entertainment events.

In their opposition, Miss World cited three UK marks, including the words ‘Miss World’ and a logo containing a globe.

They argued that the applied for mark was highly similar to their own registered trade marks and therefore would cause a likelihood of confusion. They also claimed that unfair advantage would be taken as the application could be considered as passing off.

Though Miss World provided a large amount of evidence in respect of their use and million-pound annual turnover, Judi Pike on behalf of the UK Intellectual Property Office stated that Miss World could only rely on two of the marks detailed in their opposition as the third had not been evidenced properly.

She went on to say that while there was some overlap with the services provided, the marks only had a low level of visual similarity, due to the complexity of the applicant’s mark. Combining this with a low level of conceptual similarity and a medium level of aural similarity, she concluded that there was no likelihood of confusion between the marks.

Miss World’s opposition therefore failed, and they were ordered to pay World Modelling costs.

By Ellis Sweetenham