Media Agency Group v Space Media Agency: passing off claim partly upheld on appeal
Media Agency GroupvSpace Media Agency
- Court
- Court of Appeal
- Judgment
- 12 March 2019
- Citation
- [2019] EWCA Civ 712
Registering a similar domain name isn't passing off unless the claimant can show real goodwill in that name.
Media Agency Group fought a rival agency set up by a former employee and co-founder over two names, 'Transport Media' and 'Traccountable'. The Court of Appeal backed the claimant on the first but not the second.
What happened
A former employee and a co-founder of Media Agency Group left to set up a rival advertising agency, Space Media Agency. They registered domain names including one referencing 'Transport Media', a name the claimant group traded under, and another referencing 'Traccountable'. At trial, the judge found passing off on both names. The defendant appealed, arguing the wrong company in the claimant group had been found to own the goodwill in 'Transport Media', that defences based on the name being descriptive had been ignored, and that the 'Traccountable' finding had no evidence behind it.
What did the court decide in Media Agency Group v Space Media Agency?
The Court of Appeal upheld the finding of passing off over 'Transport Media'. It held the trial judge was entitled to find that goodwill in that name belonged to Media Agency Group, the company actually running the advertising business, rather than Transport Media Limited, the dormant company whose name appeared on the website. Customers were being served by Media Agency Group even though they reached it through a site registered to the other company. On 'Traccountable', the court allowed the appeal. There was no pleaded case or evidence that this unused name had built up any reputation or goodwill. Registering a similar domain name alone, without proof of goodwill, wasn't enough to support a passing off finding.
What we learned from this
- What I'd take from this is that owning a domain name or registering a similar one to a rival's doesn't decide a passing off case either way. What matters is which company actually has the goodwill, built through real trading, in the name being copied.
- If your business trades through a website registered to a different company within your group, be ready to show which company is the true source of the goods or services customers receive.
- A name you haven't used in trade yet usually has no goodwill to protect through passing off, even if a competitor registers something very similar.
- Keep clear records linking your trading activity to the right company, especially if you use holding companies, dormant shells or group structures.
Things to be aware of
- Passing off protects goodwill built through actual trading, not just a name on a website or a domain registration.
- Group structures with dormant or shell companies can create confusion about which entity actually owns the goodwill in a name.
- A claim over a name that hasn't been used commercially is likely to fail without evidence of real reputation among customers.
The businesses involved
Media Agency Group Ltd
Registered in England in September 2009 and still active. A London based advertising agency, it traded under the Transport Media name and holds one trademark on the UK trademark register.
- Companies House
- 07022358 Active
- Incorporated
- September 2009
- Registered office
- London
- Business activity
- Advertising agencies
- UK trademarks
- 1
Space Media Agency Ltd
A rival advertising agency set up by a former employee and a co-founder of the claimant group.
What happened next
- Practical Law's case analysis noted that the Court of Appeal only partially allowed the appeal, upholding the Transport Media passing off finding while rejecting the Traccountable claim for lack of evidence.Source: Content
What others said about it
- Addleshaw Goddard noted the claimants were Media Agency Group and Transport Media Limited, with the defendant having used a trading name closely echoing the claimant's established name.Source: Addleshawgoddard, October 2019
- RPC, in its 'Goodwill Hunting' briefing, examined how the Court of Appeal approached the question of which group company actually held the goodwill in dispute.Source: Rpclegal, May 2019
- Lexology pointed to this case alongside the established One in a Million precedent as an example of courts tackling the registration of copycat company and domain names.Source: Lexology, 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: [2019] EWCA Civ 712 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.
