“small, squat, smiley-faced, bowler hatted blimp” protected by the courts

On 28th May 2010, the High Court held that Qualtex Ltd, which threatened to manufacture and sell vacuum cleaners replicating Numatic International Ltd’s successful ‘Henry’ model, was guilty of the tort of passing off. The dispute arose in 2008, when Qualtex informed Numatic of its intentions to manufacture and sell replicas of the bowler-hatted, tub-style vacuum. Qualtex based its decision on the understanding that all relevant intellectual property rights (in the form of registered and unregistered design rights) associated with the model had expired.


The tort of passing off exists to prevent an individual from misrepresenting his goods or services as belonging to, or being associated with another person. A successful claim requires the plaintiff to establish that goodwill has attached to his product; that the defendant has lead the public to believe that his products belong to the plaintiff through misrepresentation; and that he has or is likely to suffer damage as a result of the misrepresentation. What makes this case remarkable is that the court was asked to consider whether sufficient reputation and goodwill existed in the shape or get-up of the product to warrant protection, even after registered design rights have expired.


Citing a newspaper article, which describes the Henry as a “small, squat, smiley-faced, bowler hated blimp on casters” and noting market research commissioned by Numatic, Mr Justice Floyd found that “[t]he public have been educated to recognise the overall shape combined with the black bowler hat as indicia of a genuine Henry.” This being the case, Qualtex’s defence that it had not intended to use the distinctive Henry “face” on the replica, and that it would use a different brand name to alert the public to the fact that the product was not a genuine Henry, were not held to be persuasive by the Court.


Further reading:

Numatic International ltd v Qualtex UK Ltd [2010] EWHC 1237 (Ch)
http://plc.practicallaw.com/3-502-8832
http://www.lawdit.co.uk/reading_room/room/view_article.asp?name=../articles/7216-Henry-has-his-day-in-court.htm