Dryrobe wins trademark case against rival waterproof changing coat D-Robe
Dryrobe, the maker of huge waterproof towel-lined coats favoured by cold water swimming fans, has won a trademark case against a smaller label that must now stop selling items under the D-Robe brand within a week.A judge at the high court in London ruled the company was guilty of passing off its D-Robe changing robes and other goods as Dryrobe products and knew it was infringing its bigger rival’s trademark.The ruling described a Dryrobe as “an oversized waterproof coat with a towelled lining, designed for surfers or swimmers to change under whilst also drying them, keeping them warm, and protecting them from the weather”.The company has rigorously defended its brand against being used generically by publications and makers of similar clothing and is expected to seek compensation from D-Robe’s owners for trademark infringement.Dryrobe was created by the former financier Gideon Bright as an outdoor changing robe for surfers in 2010 and became the signature brand of the wild swimming craze.
While Dryrobes shot to prominence during Covid lockdowns, when outdoor swimming became a popular alternative exercise with gyms and leisure centres shut, they are now just as likely to be sported on the high street or by dog walkers in chillier and wetter parts of the UK as they are on beaches and riverbanks.They have even sparked their own culture war.A sign appeared at a beach in Ireland warning visitors to “beware of Dryrobe wankers”, which prompted a counter action online, with social media posts by fans under the hashtag #dryrobewankers.Sales of the brand, whose signature coats sport a large Dryrobe logo on the back, increased from £1.3m in 2017 to £20.
3m in 2021 and made profits of £8m,However, by 2023 sales had fallen back to £18m as the passion for outdoor sports waned and the brand faced more competition,Bright said the legal win was a “great result” for Dryrobe as there were “quite a lot of copycat products and [the owners] immediately try to refer to them using our brand name”,He said the company was now expanding overseas and moving into a broader range of products, adding that sales were similar to 2023 as “a lot of competition has come in”,Judge Melissa Clarke said: “In my judgment, D-Robe and Dryrobe have a high degree of visual similarity.
” She said a “substantial proportion of attentive consumers” who knew the Dryrobe trademarks would link and “indeed confuse them” with the D-Robe sign.The smaller label sought to defend itself against the claim by arguing that the term Dryrobe had become a generic descriptive term, but the judge ruled that most members of the public understood the term to be a brand name in 2022.Sign up to Business TodayGet set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morningafter newsletter promotionD-Robe changed its name to Delta Roam in May.A spokesperson said the rebrand had been in train before the case and it had already sold out of the majority of its D-Robe stock.“We are in a good place,” the spokesperson said, adding that it had recently launched a product with the backing of the model Jodie Kidd.
He said the new name was part of efforts to expand in Europe and the US.Geoff Steward, the co-head of the intellectual property team at Addleshaw Goddard, the law firm that represented Dryrobe in the case, said: “As well as being an interesting judgment on trademark genericide, the case highlights the importance of a clear, modern and relentless trademark strategy in protecting brands against free riding, which Dryrobe deployed to great effect.”The win for Dryrobe came almost two years after it settled out of court with the British fashion label Superdry in a separate trademark case.Dryrobe agreed not to depict the “dry” element of its logo using “any member of the Helvetica family of fonts” after Superdry sought damages in a high court claim.
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With the draw for the 2026 Fifa World Cup set to take place on Friday, a report examining the participation of athletes convicted of sexual offences at major sporting events has highlighted significant distrust of international sports governing bodies in how they deal with these situations.The report, titled No One Wants to Talk About It, is the result of interviews with elite athletes directly affected by sexual abuse and is intended to gauge attitudes around the eligibility and accreditation criteria for athletes with prior criminal sexual convictions and their participation at mega sporting events.The athletes highlighted “institutional inaction, silence, or complicity” in a lack of regulation by Fifa and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), among other organizations.The report is a collaboration between the Sports and Rights Alliance and Thomas More University in Belgium. The Sports and Rights Alliance is a coalition that includes Amnesty International, Football Supporters Europe, Human Rights Watch, and World Players Union as well as other trade unions and human rights groups
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Nathan Lyon admitted he was furious after being dropped by Australia for the first time in 13 years of home Tests as the battle for the Ashes got back under way in Brisbane on Thursday. In his absence Joe Root plundered the home side’s all-seam attack for an unbeaten 135 on the opening day at the Gabba, his 40th Test century and his first on Australian soil, an effort teammate Zak Crawley acclaimed as “one of his best”.Lyon, Australia’s all-time third-highest Test wicket-taker, described his mood as “absolutely filthy” as he came to terms with being snubbed. “I’m letting things settle down in my own head and trying to make sure that I’m doing whatever I can to make sure the guys representing Australia do the right thing and get the right result for us,” he said.“I’m not the first player to miss a Test match and I won’t be the last
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In the end it was Mitchell Starc saving the day in the second Ashes Test as he did the first. In a series supposed to be defined by Australia’s fast-bowling Big Three, he has done the work as the sole member to make the starting line. With one English wicket left to fall and his tally on six for 46, he was on the brink of the remarkable feat of recording career-best figures for the fourth time in less than 12 months. Joe Root and Jofra Archer swung a few runs away to void that statistical note, but it was still another day (and night) of heavy lifting for the man who so far in this series has carried Australia’s burden.Having passed Harbhajan Singh’s 417 Test wickets in the process Starc, who ended day one with figures of six for 71, is now in the top 15 wicket-takers on the Test all-time list, but the more significant milestone from the overtaking lane was the 414 of Wasim Akram, making Starc the most prolific left-arm quick of all
Zak Crawley’s handsome drives steady England ship and show power of perseverance | Simon Burnton
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