Argos Ltd v Argos Systems Inc: UK retailer loses fight over misdirected website traffic
ArgosvArgos Systems
- Court
- Court of Appeal
- Judgment
- 9 October 2018
- Citation
- [2018] EWCA Civ 2211
Profiting from a rival's misdirected customers isn't automatically trademark infringement if you didn't seek the traffic out.
Argos, the UK retailer, sued Argos Systems, a software company, over advertising money it earned from UK shoppers who landed on its website by mistake. The Court of Appeal agreed with the earlier ruling that the firm had not taken unfair advantage of the ARGOS trademark, so the retailer lost.
What happened
Argos Systems, a company making construction software, had traded from the domain argos.com since 1992, long before the internet became central to shopping. Over time, UK consumers meaning to reach Argos the retailer kept landing on argos.com by mistake. Argos Systems ran Google AdSense on its site, and some of those ads were, by Google's automated process, for Argos the retailer itself. Over roughly seven years this earned Argos Systems about $100,000. Argos Ltd argued this took unfair advantage of its trademark under Article 9(1)(c) of the EU trademark regulation. The trial judge dismissed the claim, and Argos Ltd appealed.
What did the court decide in Argos v Argos Systems?
The Court of Appeal actually disagreed with parts of the trial judge's reasoning. It found that, to the extent the advertising on argos.com was of interest to UK consumers, the site was targeted at the UK, and that the automated AdSense process created the necessary link with the ARGOS mark, so the sign had been used in the course of trade in the UK after all. But the court still dismissed the appeal, because it agreed that any advantage Argos Systems gained was not unfair. Argos Systems had not sought out the misdirected UK visitors, had no way to stop them arriving, earned only a modest sum, and the ads it displayed often helped Argos the retailer recover customers who had gone to the wrong site in the first place.
What we learned from this
- What I'd take from this is that earning some incidental benefit from a competitor's confused customers isn't automatically unfair, especially if you didn't go looking for that traffic and couldn't turn it away.
- Having your name used in a way that calls your trademark to mind is only part of the test under Article 9(1)(c). The advantage gained also has to be unfair, and courts will look closely at intent and effect.
- If misdirected traffic is actually sending business back to you, as the ads here arguably did for Argos the retailer, that can work against a claim that the other side is exploiting your name unfairly.
- A long-standing, genuinely held domain name registered well before any conflict arose can be a real obstacle to a later infringement claim, even where confusion plainly exists.
Things to be aware of
- The Court of Appeal actually reversed the trial judge on targeting and on whether a link existed, both in the retailer's favour, so this isn't a case about incidental traffic being immune from UK trademark law generally.
- The claim failed specifically on the separate 'unfair advantage' requirement, which is a high bar and depends heavily on the facts, including intent and the modest scale of the money involved.
- This case concerned Article 9(1)(c) of the EU trademark regulation and long predates the UK's departure from the EU framework, so the underlying law has since moved on.
The businesses involved
Argos Ltd
UK retailer incorporated in England since November 1972, based in London, trading through catalogue and online retail of household goods and furniture. Still active, and holds a large portfolio of 284 UK trademarks including the ARGOS mark on the UK trademark register.
- Companies House
- 01081551 Active
- Incorporated
- November 1972
- Registered office
- London
- Business activity
- Other retail sale in non-specialised stores; Retail sale of electrical household appliances in specialised stores; Retail of furniture, lighting and similar in specialised stores; Activities of call centres
- UK trademarks
- 284
Argos Systems Inc
Company founded in 1992 providing computer aided design and building information modelling software, including its Vertex BD product, for the home building industry. Based outside the UK.
- Note
- Registered outside the UK
What others said about it
- Addleshaw Goddard noted that Argos Systems had seen rising internet traffic from UK users who actually meant to reach the UK retailer's own site.Source: Addleshawgoddard, July 2019
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This page is for information purposes only and does not constitute trademark advice or guidance. Summary drafted with AI assistance from the published judgment and checked by The Trademark Helpline (how we write these). Judgment: [2018] EWCA Civ 2211 on Find Case Law, published under the Open Justice Licence. Company details from Companies House; trademark counts from the UK trademark register. Last reviewed 26 October 2026. Report an error.
