Victoria Beckham’s florist Flowerbx wins High Court trademark battle with London rivalFlowerbx owner Whitney Bromberg Hawkings wins High Court fight with London-based rival
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Paul Keogh2 minutes ago
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A luxury florist to stars including Victoria Beckham has won a High Court battle with a rival who set up a business with an almost identical name.
Formerly high-flying fashionista Whitney Bromberg Hawkings launched her florist service Flowerbx Ltd in 2015, having previously worked at Gucci and as a senior vice president at Tom Ford.
The company specialises in high-end floral displays, and counts the former Spice Girl, actress Julianne Moore, and brands like Louis Vuitton, Dior and Jimmy Choo among its customers, attracted by its reputation for style and luxury.
By 2025, it was turning over more than £4million a year, but ended up embroiled in a trademark row with London-based rival, Lukasz Gajewski, and his similarly named company, Flowers Box London Ltd.
Through her business, Ms Bromberg Hawkings dragged the rival business to the High Court, arguing that it had breached the Flowerbx trademark by marketing itself as Flowers Box or Flowers Box London.
She claimed she had lost business to the other company, as confused customers mistook it for hers due to the similarity in names and placed orders there, rather than with Flowerbx, as they intended.
Flowerbx collaborated with Victoria Beckham for a pop-up boutique at her flagship London store, and provided lavish floral arrangements for both Victoria and David Beckham’s 50th birthday celebrationsSupplied by Champion News
After a trial, she has now been handed victory by a judge, who ruled that Mr Gajewski’s business had in fact breached her trademark, confusing customers and allowing his company to unfairly benefit from Flowerbx’s hard-won reputation for quality.
Giving judgment, Recorder Amanda Michaels said that having breached the trademark by the use of “signs” comprising of the words “Flowers Box” or “Flowers Box London”, Mr Gajewski’s business gained an “unfair advantage” as it enabled it to “profit” from the reputation achieved by Ms Bromberg Hawkings’ hard work.
The court heard during the trial that Ms Bromberg Hawkings founded Flowerbx after becoming frustrated at the lack of an online source of the sort of “elegant and modern flowers” generally used in the high-end fashion business.
“She decided to open a business to fulfil that perceived need,” said the judge in her ruling.
“She said that she conceived the FLOWERBX name, which she felt would ‘sound modern, disruptive and fashion-forward’.
“Initially, she intended to create a direct-to-consumer business, but some of her contacts in the fashion business asked if the claimant could provide flowers for events such as fashion shows, or for shops or restaurants, and so the company developed a business-to-business model.
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“One of the claimant’s specialities is, or was, the delivery of bouquets or arrangements of single stem varieties.”
Ms Bromberg Hawkings also said that unlike many other UK florists, the claimant’s flowers are cut only after a customer places an order, minimising waste and improving freshness and quality.”
Flowerbx founder Whitney Bromberg Hawkings Supplied by Champion News
Ms Bromberg Hawkings’ evidence was that high-end fashion and luxury brands used FLOWERBX “for a supreme luxury experience and…for events, gifting and large-scale installations”.
“She registered the trademark for Flowerbx in July 2017, claiming that her business had by then acquired a reputation for ‘luxury and stylish floral design of the highest quality’.”
Among its collaborations, Flowerbx worked with high-end fashion designer Emilia Wickstead for a display outside Scott’s restaurant in Mayfair and in 2019 produced a large floral display for the famous London club, Annabel’s.
It also collaborated with Victoria Beckham for a pop-up boutique at her flagship London store, and provided lavish floral arrangements for both Victoria and David Beckham’s 50th birthday celebrations.
Flowers Box London Ltd was not incorporated until April 2019, although Mr Gajewski said he had begun trading in 2017, following in the footsteps of his florist mother.
Lukasz Gajewski launched a similarly named company, Flowers Box London Ltd Supplied by Champion News
Initially selling flowers via eBay, his company began to supply flowers, bouquets and plants online, targeting the luxury end of the market after it was incorporated.
The judge said Mr Gajewski’s company “must have become aware of the potential for confusion” almost immediately after incorporation, as from July 2019 it received a series of messages, congratulating it for five-star online reviews actually intended for Flowerbx.
Ms Bromberg Hawkings herself became aware of the potential for confusion in late 2023 when a school bus driver told her he had bought some of her flowers, when it fact they had come from Mr Gajewski’s company.
The dispute then went to the High Court, with lawyers for Flowerbx claiming that its rival had breached the trademark in its name and taken unfair reputation of its standing in the industry.
Flowerbx created a stunning floral arch outside Jimmy Choo’s flagship store in London’s Sloane StreetSupplied by Champion News
Giving her judgment, Recorder Michaels said Flowerbx had established a reputation for “luxury and stylish floral design of the highest quality” before its rival was even incorporated.
“The claimant alleged that the defendant took unfair advantage of the reputation of the mark by riding on its coat tails,” she continued.
“It did not plead that the defendant had a subjective intent to take unfair advantage, so that the only possible basis for a finding of unfair advantage would be that the objective effect of the defendant’s acts is to take advantage of the mark.
“The name may have been adopted innocently, although the mark was in use and registered by the time Mr Gajewski started to use it in late 2017, and the defendant may not have intended to take unfair advantage of its reputation.
“Nevertheless, it traded with knowledge of the claimant and its business, at the latest from July 2019 when the defendant first received a Trustpilot review intended for the claimant.
A Flowerbx display at Corinthia London Hotel Supplied by Champion News
“That was reinforced by Mr Gajewski’s periodic visits to the claimant’s website and his subscription to the claimant’s marketing emails.
“I am satisfied that the defendant took unfair advantage of the distinctive character or repute of the mark, as it gave the defendant an advantage which was unfair because it enabled the defendant to profit from the reputation achieved by the claimant’s hard work and marketing efforts.”
The question of how much in damages Flowers Box London Ltd has to pay Ms Bromberg Hawkings’ company will be decided at another court hearing at a later date.
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