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On 12 May 2026, the Court of Appeal gave judgment in Lifestyle Equities v Frasers Group [2026] EWCA Civ 583. It held that a trademark owner cannot recover a licensee's losses in an infringement action unless the licence has been registered.
The Court construed the entire scheme of s.30 TMA 1994 as a set of protections "for licensees". The Court also confirmed that ordinary limitation applies - late registration does not revive out of time claims. On the facts, the claims to recover sub licensee losses were statute barred and were summarily dismissed.
What this means for rights holders and licensees:
- Register licences if you want to recover licensee losses (directly or via the proprietor). Without a registration application, s.30 relief is not available. If you do register a licence, it has retrospective effect to catch infringements before the date of the registration subject to limitation.
- Don’t rely on "late" registration to save the claim. You must satisfy the registration precondition and bring any claim within the six year limitation period running from the infringing acts.
- Mind the costs trap. For infringements occurring before registration, costs recovery is restricted unless registration was applied for within six months of the licence (or as soon as practicable thereafter).
- Since 2019, licensees may intervene to claim their own loss when the proprietor sues, but the registration precondition still applies.
- Weigh confidentiality against enforcement risk when considering on whether to register a licence. The claimants' deliberate policy of non-registration to preserve confidentiality proved fatal to their sub-licensee loss claims.
We recommend that you audit all existing trade mark licences, diarise the six-month costs window and when infringement is suspected, ensure any licensee loss claim is pleaded and supported by timely licence registration to avoid limitation risk.
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