LONDON, March 6 (Reuters) - Amazon ( AMZN ) lost an

appeal on Wednesday against a ruling that it had infringed UK

trademarks by targeting British consumers on its U.S. website,

in a potentially significant judgment for other online

retailers.

The U.S. tech giant was found in 2022 by London's Court of

Appeal to have infringed the trademarks. Amazon ( AMZN ) appealed last

year to the United Kingdom's Supreme Court, which unanimously

ruled that its U.S. website was "targeting consumers in the UK".

Amazon ( AMZN ) declined to comment on "ongoing proceedings".

Intellectual property lawyers said the ruling could affect

all online retailers, who would now need to check that their

platforms do not automatically target British consumers.

Amazon ( AMZN ) was first sued in London by Lifestyle Equities, the

owner of the UK and European trademarks in the "Beverly Hills

Polo Club" brand, in 2019. Its trademarks cover a wide variety

of goods, including clothing, luggage, watches and perfume.

Lifestyle Equities said Amazon ( AMZN ) had infringed its trademarks

by selling U.S. branded goods to British consumers via its U.S.

website, which Amazon ( AMZN ) denied.

The Supreme Court said in Wednesday's ruling that Amazon's ( AMZN )

U.S. website automatically contains boxes stating "Deliver to

United Kingdom" when it detects a user is based in the UK.

This meant, the court said, that "Amazon ( AMZN ) did target the UK

as a destination for the U.S. branded goods", where the product

was marked as available for delivery to the UK.

Lifestyle Equities is entitled to an injunction preventing

further infringement and potentially damages, the court ruled.

Jenna Green, an intellectual property (IP) lawyer at

Addleshaw Goddard, said online retailers would have to audit

their platforms to avoid risking any infringement.

The ruling meant brand owners have "far stronger rights to

prevent website operators based outside the UK from targeting UK

consumers", Green added.

Dennis Lee, an IP partner at BDB Pitmans, said the ruling

could prompt similar lawsuits against other online retailers.

Any website offering shipping to the UK "will now need to be

clear that it is not 'targeting' UK shoppers", he said, or if it

does be sure that the goods do not infringe UK trademarks.