The possibility that a senior Amazon executive may find his name on a range of “non-medicated toilet preparations” has considerably brightened my week. Not that I have anything against Amazon. But Lush, the British handmade cosmetics company, does.
It has just won a London court case against the US-based internet group’s UK and Luxembourg arms for using the word “lush” to direct search engine users to cosmetics on its site, even though Amazon does not sell Lush products in Britain.
A close reading of the judgment led to the revelation that Lush had trademarked “Christopher North” – the name of Amazon.co.uk’s managing director – for a new shower gel and other products. The judge described the move as “pretty bizarre”, though he deemed it irrelevant to the case. Amazon plans to appeal against the decision. But whether the judgment sticks or not, Mr North’s name will for ever feature in the list of corporate pranks, stunts and rivalries that leaven the general dullness of books about management and motivation.