The Court of Appeal has recently upheld an Intellectual Property and Enterprise Court (“IPEC”) ruling on trade mark exhaustion and copyright in designs in the case of AGA Rangemaster Group Ltd v UK Innovations Group Ltd & Anor [2025] EWCA Civ 1622.
The Defendant, UK Innovations Group Ltd (“UKIG”), renovates and converts old, fossil fuel-powered AGA Rangemaster cookers to electrically powered using its ‘eControl System’. The Claimant, AGA Rangemaster Group Ltd (AGA), initially brought an action against UKIG for alleged copyright and trade mark infringement in the IPEC. The Court of Appeal held that while UKIG’s refurbishment and conversion work did not constitute copyright infringement, UKIG’s marketing had established a false impression that it had an economic link with AGA, so their defence of exhaustion had failed.
AGA claimed artistic copyright in its control panel design drawings, though the Court held that since the question was whether artistic copyright subsisted in the panel itself (rather than its design drawings), which the Judge determined it did not, then section 51 of the Copyright, Designs & Patents Act 1988 provided UKIG with a valid defence. Section 51 allows for any design document or model recording, other than an artistic work or typeface, to be copied without being an infringement if the design itself is protected by UK design right. It was noted that being “a thing to be looked at” was necessary but not sufficient for a work to qualify as “a graphic work” and therefore be protected by artistic copyright.
AGA was successful in its claim that UKIG had created a false impression of an economic link between them, with the Judge finding that customers would be given the impression that the “eControl AGA” system used by UKIG is a genuine product of AGA.
With this decision acknowledging the merits of both sides’ positions, the Court of Appeal has aided in clarifying the position around the exhaustion of trade mark rights and the application of copyright law in graphic works, specifically the defence to infringement in Section 51 of the CPDA. However, if AGA is granted further permission to appeal then it will be for the Supreme Court to determine if the lower Courts have erred on those questions.
If you have any questions on the above, or if you need any advice or support in respect of your own Intellectual Property, please do not hesitate to contact the team at McDaniels Law on 0191 281 4000 or legal@mcdanielslaw.com.
