PBL Magazine Successfully Defends Its Trademark from Invalidation Proceedings Issued by Trades Exhibitions Limited (Professional Beauty)
We are proud to announce that we have won legal proceedings against Professional Beauty - Trades Exhibitions Limited who attempted to invalidate our trademark by claiming we do not have the right to use "Pro Beauty Loft Magazine". Pro Beauty Loft (PBL) Magazine is a registered trademark from 2019 and this year we successfully defended our trademark from the legal actions taken by Trades Exhibitions Limited.
Back in March 2018 Professional Beauty got in contact through their lawyers, requesting PBL Magazine change its trading name, claiming we were causing confusion on the market.
They reached out a couple more times, stating that in order to avoid legal proceedings we should agree to operate under a different trading name and not pass off as Professional Beauty.
We have built our brand and reputation from the ground up thanks to our hard work so we did not agree to be forced into changing our name by a magazine already on market. We are confident of our brand and its individuality.
PBL Magazine filed for a trademark on the 25th January 2019, but on the 29th of March we received a letter from the Intellectual Property Office that Professional Beauty filed a "Notice of Threatened Opposition". This delayed the registration of our trademark, but no opposition was filed so the trademark was registered on 10 May 2019.
However, on 24 December 2019, Professional Beauty filed to invalidate the PBL Pro Beauty Loft Magazine trademark on the grounds of passing off and bad faith. In short, Professional Beauty was claiming PBL Magazine was freeloading on the reputation of Professional Beauty and dishonestly applying for the trademark.
The application resulted in a hearing at the Tribunal. After hearing both sides, the Tribunal rejected the invalidation application.
It was disappointing to see was how far Professional Beauty went in making judgements on the professional beauty industry in order to invalidate our trademark at the hearing of 4th December 2020. In their argument to show that beauty professionals would be easily confused by the "similarity" between Pro Beauty Loft Magazine and Professional Beauty, Mr Moloney, Managing Director of Professional Beauty, Hairdressers Journal, World Spa & Wellness, Aesthetic Medicine said the following:
Excerpt from the judgement by Ms Perks on cancellation proceedings of trademark PBL Pro Beauty Loft Magazine O/026/21, full decision available online: https://www.ipo.gov.uk/t-challenge-decision-results/o02621.pdf
He further argued that the term "professional" was not a descriptive term to those working in the trade industry. In her judgement, Ms. Perks rejected this statement.
Excerpt from the judgement by Ms Perks on cancellation proceedings of trademark PBL Pro Beauty Loft Magazine O/026/21, full decision available online: https://www.ipo.gov.uk/t-challenge-decision-results/o02621.pdf
The beauty industry should be united, as that is where our strength comes from, especially at such a turbulent time. Brands should be focusing on growing the beauty industry instead of bringing forward litigation against each other.
We're sharing this with you as you deserve to know the truth and we hope you can celebrate with us the successful defence of our trademark. While we felt like someone was trying to clip our wings, we have come out stronger and more inspired on the other side. When leaving your comments of support, remember, we don't encourage hate toward any brand. Always be kind.