Interflora is hopeful that the EU’s Court of Justice will rule in its favour over an ongoing dispute with Marks & Spencer.

One of the court’s advocates general seemingly supported the flower firm in a published opinion.

Interflora is seeking clarification as to whether M&S should be allowed to use the Interflora trademark as an internet search engine keyword to advertise M&S flowers.

Advocate general Niilo Jääskinen said: “An error concerning the origin of goods or services arises when the competitor’s sponsored link is liable to lead some members of the public to believe that the competitor is a member of the trademark proprietor’s commercial network when it is not. As a result of this the trademark proprietor has the right to prohibit the use of the keyword in advertising by the competitor in question.”

Interflora said it was encouraged by the opinion and is awaiting the final ruling from the court.

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