Lord Sugar's YouView sued for copyright infringement

Sugar's on-demand TV service firm loses appeal and faces High Court proceedings from Gloucestershire telecoms company

Lord Sugar's YouView venture is being sued by Gloucestershire telecoms firm Total for copyright infringement after it lost its appeal earlier this month.

The trademark for Total's account management tool Your View was applied for on 20 November 2009, five months before Sugar's firm tried to register YouView on 1 April 2010, a name which a hearing officer ruled was "confusingly similar" in earlier hearings.

YouView, a joint Freeview and on-demand television service venture backed by the major television channels and broadband providers, said in a statement that it has no plans to change its name.

Total has claimed that it is looking for financial compensation from YouView as well as an injunction which, if granted, will prevent YouView using its name in a way that infringes Total's trademark.

Paul Gordon, partner at Willans LLP Solicitors, which is representing Total, said similarities between the brands had been pointed out throughout the legal battle.

He said: "The Your View trademark has been registered to Total since 20 November 2009, a fact that YouView were fully aware of when attempting to register their mark.

"On Friday 9 November, Mr Justice Floyd dismissed YouView's appeal and took time to point out that not only was the hearing officer in the Trademarks Registry right in her initial findings when she decided against registration of the ‘youview' mark with certain goods and services, but that he agreed that there was similarity of the marks and similarity of the goods and services."

A YouView spokesperson remained defiant that the company was not to change its name.

A statement from the firm read: "YouView has no intention of changing its name. The matter is complex and subject to a number of ongoing legal actions and will be settled in the courts."