Lifestyle Equities v Frasers Group: Court of Appeal rules unregistered trade mark licences bar recovery of sub-licensee losses

The Court of Appeal has allowed an appeal by Frasers Group and associated defendants in Lifestyle Equities C.V. & Anor v Frasers Group Trading Limited & Ors [2026] EWCA Civ 583, handing down judgement on 12 May 2026. The decision resolves a significant question under the Trade Marks Act 1994: whether a trade mark proprietor can recover, in infringement proceedings, losses suffered by sub-licensees whose licences have not been registered.

Background

Lifestyle Equities C.V. ("CV"), the registered proprietor of certain trade marks, and Lifestyle Licensing B.V. ("BV"), its exclusive licensee, brought infringement proceedings against the defendants in respect of acts committed in 2014 and 2015. Following a successful liability trial, the parties elected for an inquiry as to damages. It was only in the respondents' points of claim in that inquiry — served in June 2023 — that a claim was advanced under s.30(6) of the TMA 1994 to recover losses suffered by various sub-licensees. The sub-licences in question were largely unregistered, with only one having been registered voluntarily. The defendants sought summary judgement on the sub-licensee losses claim, which Marcus Smith J dismissed at first instance. That decision was reversed on appeal.

Section 30(6) as licensee protection

The central question on the first ground was whether s.30(6) — which requires a court in proprietor-brought proceedings to take into account "any loss suffered or likely to be suffered by licensees" — constitutes a protection for the proprietor or for licensees. The distinction matters because s.25(3)(b) disapplies the protections of ss.30 and 31 to unregistered licensees until an application to register is made.

Lord Justice Zacaroli, giving the leading judgement (with which Arnold and Peter Jackson LJJ agreed), rejected the first-instance analysis that partitioned s.30(6) between a proprietary first half and a licensee-protective second half. The subsection operates as a whole: the first half enables recovery of losses that a proprietor could not otherwise claim under the general law, and the second half provides the procedural mechanism for passing those proceeds to licensees. To treat the first half as conferring a freestanding benefit on proprietors would produce an unprincipled windfall. Section 30, read as a comprehensive scheme, is concerned throughout with the protection of licensees. Accordingly, s.25(3)(b) applies to s.30(6) in its entirety, and registration of the licence is a precondition to that protection.

Limitation and the timing of registration

On the second ground, the Court confirmed that, whilst TMA 1994 imposes no express time limit for applying to register a licence, ordinary limitation principles still govern the underlying claim. The cause of action accrues at the date of infringement — not when a registration application is made — following the established principle in Sevcon Ltd v Lucas CAV Ltd [1986] 1 WLR 462. A claim to recover a licensee's losses under s.30(6) is legally distinct from the proprietor's own loss claim. Where no application to register the licence is made before the expiry of the limitation period referable to that distinct claim, the claim is statute-barred.

In this case, the last pleaded act of infringement occurred in June 2016. The sub-licensee damages claim was not raised until June 2023, and most licences remained unregistered even at the date of the appeal hearing. The Court held the claims were statute-barred and granted summary judgement in the defendants' favour accordingly.

Significance

The judgement establishes that s.30(6) cannot be deployed as a late remedy for commercially convenient non-registration. Proprietors and licensees who delay registration risk losing the ability to recover sub-licensee losses altogether — not merely facing costs consequences under s.25(4). The decision also reinforces that limitation runs from the date of infringement irrespective of procedural prerequisites to commencing a claim.