Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s estate has successfully prevented a Manchester-area clothing businessman from registering “Dr Watson” as a UK trademark for apparel. The ruling matters because it protects the estate’s existing trademarks and finds that consumers could wrongly assume the clothing was connected with or endorsed by the Sherlock Holmes rights holders.

Joel Brown sought registration for leisurewear, sportswear, footwear and headgear, while the estate argued this overlapped with its “Dr Watson” and “Holmes and Watson” marks covering protective clothing, footwear and headgear. A UK Intellectual Property Office hearing officer said a significant share of the public would recognise Dr Watson as the literary character, but that the name remained sufficiently distinctive for the relevant goods and could cause confusion; Mr Brown was ordered to contribute £1,300 towards costs.