Sky v SkyKick: Sky wins injunction despite partial bad faith trademark finding

What happened

This was a follow-up hearing in the long running Sky v SkyKick dispute, after the Court of Justice of the European Union had answered questions sent to it about bad faith trademark applications. The judge decided that SkyKick's Cloud Backup service, not just its email migration service, also infringed Sky's trademarks because it was similar to services covered by Sky's registrations. SkyKick argued that an injunction, a court order stopping it doing something, ought to be refused or limited, because Sky had applied for some of its marks partly in bad faith and because a rebrand would hurt its business.

What did the court decide in Sky v Skykick UK?

The court granted Sky a final injunction against SkyKick. It held that a trademark being partly invalid for bad faith was not a special reason to refuse an injunction under the EU Trademark Regulation, and that an injunction was not disproportionate given SkyKick had carried on despite repeated warnings. The court refused Sky's request for a publicity order, saying the case was too complex to sum up fairly in public without favouring one side. It made no order on overall costs, treating each side as having won on different points.

What we learned from this

• What I'd take from this is that having part of a trademark registration struck out for bad faith doesn't mean an infringer gets off the hook. Sky still got its injunction on the parts of the registration that survived.
• If you're warned that your product or service might infringe someone else's name, logo or tagline, carrying on regardless weakens your position later, even if you think the other side's registration is flawed.
• Winning on one issue in a trademark case doesn't guarantee you'll be reimbursed. Here, the court split the result and left each side to pay its own costs.

Things to be aware of

The businesses involved

What happened next

• The dispute continued through further appeals, culminating in the UK Supreme Court hearing a challenge by SkyKick against earlier findings that it had infringed Sky's trademarks.Source: Jonesday
• The Supreme Court's case record shows the appeal was brought by SkyKick against Sky and others, with judgment eventually given years after this High Court decision.Source: UK Supreme Court
• Commentary following the Supreme Court's 2024 ruling noted it clarified how far companies may register broad trademark specifications before risking a finding of bad faith.Source: ICLG, November 2024
• A trade press report observed that the Supreme Court decision prompted English courts to begin narrowing overly broad trademark specifications in subsequent cases.Source: The Global Legal Post, September 2025
• The UK Intellectual Property Office issued guidance for trademark applicants following the Supreme Court's final judgment in the SkyKick litigation.Source: Gov, June 2025

What others said about it

• IPKat notes the long path to the 2024 Supreme Court ruling, underlining just how drawn out bad faith disputes over broad trademark specifications can become.Source: IPKat, November 2024
• Hogan Lovells frames the eventual Supreme Court outcome as a warning that registering overly broad trademark specifications risks a bad faith finding.Source: Hogan Lovells Cadwalader, November 2024