Court of Appeal upholds AGA trade mark infringement ruling

The Court of Appeal has confirmed trade mark infringement in AGA Rangemaster Group Ltd v UK Innovations Group Ltd & Anor. The defendants converted second-hand AGA range cookers to run on electricity using their own eControl system. They retained the original AGA badges on the appliances while adding their own branding and marketing the products using terms such as “eControl AGA” and “AGA eControl”.

The court found that this approach created a false impression of a commercial connection with AGA Rangemaster, preventing the exhaustion defence from applying under section 12 of the Trade Marks Act 1994. The defendants had legitimate reasons to oppose further dealings in the goods because the marketing suggested affiliation or that the conversion service originated from the trade mark owner. The Court of Appeal upheld the earlier IPEC finding on trade marks but dismissed the related copyright claim concerning control panel designs under the section 51 CDPA defence.

The ruling clarifies limits on aftermarket modifications and co-branding practices involving registered marks.

Small-business owners should avoid marketing refurbished or modified goods in ways that suggest an ongoing link with the original brand owner without clear disclaimers.

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**Sources**

- <https://www.brownejacobson.com/insights/court-of-appeal-says-no-to-co-branding-but-dismisses-copyright-claim-in-aga-conversion-case> - <https://legalblogs.wolterskluwer.com/copyright-blog/aga-rangemaster-group-ltd-v-uk-innovation-group-ltd-the-uk-court-of-appeal-rules-in-the-second-instalment-of-the-aga-cooker-saga/> - <https://www.beckgreener.com/court-of-appeal-clarifies-limits-of-trade-mark-exhaustion-in-aga-cooker-conversion-dispute/>