TK Maxx owner in trademark dispute with Sports Direct

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Jan 2, 2019

Sports Direct is being sued for trademark infringement by TJX, the American owner of TK Maxx and Homesense, for naming its new retail fascia ‘Brand Max’.

TJX is claiming that its UK rival has “deliberately intended to ride on the coat-tails” of its reputation by using a name that is similar to that of its off-price TK Maxx chain, according to The Times.

Sports Direct launched Brand Max in the autumn of 2018, and has already rolled out 18 stores in Britain and Ireland. Like TK Maxx, it sells designer brands at discounted prices.

In a High Court filing, TJX said that the similarity of the names could mean that the retailers would be “mistaken for each other by a significant proportion of customers”.

This is not the first time the American retailer has protested over the use of the ‘Brand Max’ name. Its suit is seeking an injunction to prevent Sports Direct from using the name and its web addresses throughout Europe, as well as additional damages.

TJX has 337 TK Maxx stores in the UK and 53 Homesense outlets, turning over £3 billion and generating pre-tax profits of £87.1 million in the year to the end of February 2018.