MANCHESTER LICENSING business Character World has agreed an out of court settlement with a Birmingham textile business accused of copying its products and infringing its intellectual property.
The case reached settlement one week before it was due to be heard in the High Court of Justice. As a result, Cheadle headquartered Character World will be paid a substantial undisclosed sum covering legal costs and compensation by the main Defendant, Haji Ismail and Sons Limited trading as HIS Textiles. Manchester based law firm Kuits acted for Character World.
Character World, which is backed by Palatine Private Equity, has many big brand licences to produce bedding products featuring well-known franchises and supply retailers across the UK – these products also bear Character World’s trademarks.
Birmingham based textile business, HIS Textiles was accused of importing and supplying counterfeit duvet cover sets featuring Character World’s trademarks and passing them off as being made by Character World.
As part of the settlement, HIS Textiles will make a substantial payment to Character World and consented to judgment against them with a wide injunction that in future it would not infringe the intellectual property rights or trade marks of Character World or pass off any of its products as authentic Character World products.
Danny Schweiger, joint managing director of Character World, said:
“We will aggressively pursue anyone we suspect of copying our products. We rigorously protect our trademarks and copyright across Europe. This case should serve as a warning to any other outfits tempted to rip off brands and official suppliers. We are proud to work with the world’s biggest brands and work hard to produce bedding ranges that meet their high standards. All our products pass rigorous quality and safety checks. Counterfeit products do not.
“We are committed to ensuring the brands we work with and our customers across Europe continue to receive the highest levels of quality from anything that bears the Character World name.”
Mark Schweiger, joint managing director of Character World, said:
“We have built up a reputation over the past two decades for producing high quality products and supplying retailers across the globe. We will take any steps necessary to protect our name and that of our licensor partners across Europe that entrust us with their properties. We have always believed in doing business fairly and I’m pleased that this case is now closed and a satisfactory conclusion reached.”
Ian Morris, head of intellectual property at Kuits, said:
“The damage caused to legitimate business by counterfeiting cannot be underestimated. In this case there was a total denial of involvement by the main Defendants but the persistence of the clients and our team uncovered evidence which made it improbable that the defence could have any prospects of success. We believe that this directly led to judgment at the end of the day.”
Established in 1998, Character World is the UK’s number one licensed bedding and accessories company. Character World works with some of the world’s biggest brands including Disney, Marvel, Lucasfilm, Lego, Nickelodeon, Warner Bros and Hasbro, supplying retailers across Europe.
