Lush registers Amazon director in retaliation
Amazon’s branches in the UK and Luxembourg lost the court case, but they will appeal against the decision, not in the slightest because Lush has also trademarked “Christopher North”, the name of Amazon.co.uk’s managing director, as part of its retaliatory actions.
The move to register ‘Christopher North’ is a prime example of how companies can unite through a common enemy, in this case Amazon. Previous examples were Apple with a Mac vs pc, Virgin vs Coca-Cola, Oracle vs SAP or Hewlett-Packard.
Lush, which has said it is “upsetting to have something personal to you, used by someone else”, now has several options as to what to do with its own trademark. It runs the risk of coming across as petty if it chooses to pursue its trademark use, but it might also stir the hornet’s nest in Amazon. Previous clashes that Amazon had to endure, have – on several occasions – ended in Amazon purchasing the other party, like Zappos (shoe retailing) and Diapers.com.
