16. The opponents filed witness statements by Jacqueline McKay and Antonio Aita. Ms McKay is an attorney with Murgitroyd & Company. Her witness statement consists of submissions. I will take these into account in my decision below.
17. Mr Aita is the Administrative and Financial Manager of GA Modefine SA. The company is part of the Armani Group founded by the designer Giorgio Armani. Mr Aita’s evidence initially deals in general terms with the activities and turnover etc of the Group and the range of marks employed in their businesses. Exhibit GA1 confirms the substantial scale of the Group’s business, its diversified nature covering apparel (52%), fragrances and cosmetics (24%) and accessories and others (24%) and the wide geographical spread of activities. I do not need to record further details but will instead review the position pertaining to the UK. The marks GIO’ DE GIORGIO ARMANI and ACQUA DI GIO’ have been used in relation to ranges of fragrances. The names were chosen to make a strong association with Giorgio Armani. Bearing in mind the material date of 16 November 2000 the only relevant figures are as follows: