Trade mark decision

BL Number

O/069/98

Decision date

30 March 1998

Hearing officer

Mr M Tuck

Mark

3K

Classes

02, 16

Registered Proprietor

Gary Thompson, Mark Segal & Nicholas Bell

Applicant for Invalidity

Artists Paints Plant

Invalidity

Sections 47(1) & 3(6)

Result

Sections 47(1) & 3(6) - Invalidation allowed.

Points Of Interest

• Bad Faith : There is no simple definition as to what constitutes bad faith. The facts and particular circumstances must be considered in each case and a decision made on those facts and circumstances.

Summary

The applicants claimed to have devised the mark and used it prior to registration of the mark in the UK. The 3K symbol was devised by combing Russian letters which are themselves an abbreviation of the Russian name Zarod Khudozhestvenniykh which translates as Artists Paints Plant (the applicants). This company was founded as a state enterprise in 1934 to produce artists paints and after the war was privatised. The Company formed a joint venture with a Mr Jorgen Krabbe of Denmark in 1993. The registered proprietors said that they had been authorised by Mr Krabbe’s Company Intertrade International to register the mark in the UK.

The Hearing Officer accepted that the applicants had devised the 3K mark and noted that when the registered proprietors used the 3K mark they had indicated that they were UK distributors of the Russian products. That being the case it was clear that they were not owners of the 3K mark though he accepted that they did not believe they were acting in bad faith when they applied to register the mark in March 1995. However, the applications had been for a range of goods which extended beyond those provided by the Russian suppliers and if the mark at issue was used in respect of goods other than from that source a degree of bad faith would arise. In all the circumstances the Hearing Officer decided that the applicants should succeed and that the mark should be removed from the Register.