Marsh loses case against insurtech startup Marshmallow

Insurtech startup Marshmallow has won a trademark case against insurance broker Marsh.

Marsh wanted to block the use of the Marshmallow name and laid claim to the word, which was the name chosen by founder entrepreneurs and twin brothers Oliver and Alexander Kent-Braham for their London-based startup.

Marshmallow, a UK insurance company that is focused on driving innovation in the migrant motor insurance market, received notification of the trademark infringement claim after they came up with the idea in 2016 and registered the name - something they ran past lawyers at the time.

The twin brothers tried to settle with Marsh without resorting to the time and expense of an IPO legal ruling but reached no agreement from Marsh and decided to follow a legal route, according to a statement.

In the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) judgment the government’s intellectual property office ruled that members of the public are perfectly capable of distinguishing between a Marshmallow “a soft, sweet food” and a Marsh “a muddy area of land” and that the two names conveyed “very different conceptual messages,” according to a May 14 press release. The Kent-Brahams were awarded a contribution towards costs. It is understood that Marsh has no plans to appeal. Marsh did not want to comment on the outcome of the case.

"It was the principle," said Oliver Kent-Braham. "There is a huge amount of insurtech innovation in the UK at the moment. We believe that this is a good thing for consumers and should be supported not stifled by large incumbents like Marsh.

"Unfortunately, in this instance, a huge global company tried to use their wealth and resources to squash Marshmallow before we’d even started. Fortunately, the IPO office saw sense and ruled in our favour, we are, naturally delighted by the outcome, it's a sweet victory."

Marshmallow, which has gained Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) approval and has insurance veteran and former Zurich chief underwriting officer Tim Holliday on its board, has built a proprietary rating matrix to improve car insurance prices for foreign drivers. They are launching their product in the next few months.