An adviser to the Europe’s highest court recommended it reject a complaint by British phone company O2 against a rival that used its bubbles logo in a television advertising campaign.

The European Court of Justice's Advocate General rejected O2's argument that Hutchison 3G violated its trademark in an advertisement that showed O2's bubbles, Vodafone flying commas, T-Mobile's pink triangles and Orange's spinning orange square along with the rates they charged for calls.

He said the ad had not discredited O2's trademark and Hutchison could use the imagery to compare competitors' rates.

The EU court follows the Advocate General's opinion in the majority of cases. The court's final ruling will be passed back to the English Court of Appeal to decide on the details of the issue.

Tom Lingard, an IP lawyer at Stevens & Bolton, said the opinion has "confirmed the general trend of an increasingly liberal approach towards comparative advertising".

“Modern consumers are well used to advertisers jostling for position across all media. Today's opinion seems to credit consumers with an appropriate level of common sense and cynicism towards advertising.

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