Flowerbx Limited v Flowers Box London Limited

Facts

The claimant, FLOWERBX Limited, began trading in the UK in 2015. Its founder and chief executive, Whitney Bromberg Hawkings, had worked in the fashion industry at Gucci and Tom Ford, and conceived the FLOWERBX name for an online business supplying elegant, modern flowers to the high-end fashion world. The business grew from a direct-to-consumer model into business-to-business supply of events, shops and restaurants, with UK turnover of over £2.2m by the end of 2019 and about £4.3m in 2025. It applied for UK trade mark no. 3,223,726 for the word mark FLOWERBX on 7 April 2017, registered on 14 July 2017. The defendant, Flowers Box London Limited, was incorporated on 17 April 2019; its founder and director, Mr Gajewski, had sold flowers in gift boxes through eBay under the name Flower Box London from late 2017. The defendant traded online as FLOWERSBOX, FLOWERS BOX and FLOWERS BOX LONDON, including in stylised forms with a gold B. From July 2019 the defendant received Trustpilot reviews intended for the claimant. Following a letter of complaint in February 2025, the claimant issued proceedings on 22 July 2025 alleging infringement under sections 10(2) and (3) of the Trade Marks Act 1994. The defendant counterclaimed for a declaration of partial invalidity under section 3(1)(c) of the Trade Marks Act 1994 and for revocation for non-use.