Trade mark decision

BL Number

O/342/01

Decision date

9 August 2001

Hearing officer

Mr G Rose'Meyer

Mark

GOLF COURTS

Classes

16, 28, 35, 37, 41, 42

Registered Proprietor

John DeVere

Applicant for Rectification

Farel Bradbury

Rectification

Section 60(3)(b)

Result

Section 60(3)(b) - Application failed

Points Of Interest

• 1. Proprietorship in a Convention Country. This is not defined and there is little case law but registration and proved use in trade would suffice.
• 2. See also O/343/01.
• 3. The applicant for rectification appealed this decision to the Appointed Person. In his decision dated 28 January 2002 (BL O/056/02) The Appointed Person remitted the proceedings back to the Registrar for the issues to be clarified and a re-hearing.

Summary

The applicant applied on the sole ground under Section 60(3)(b) to have his name substituted for that of the registered proprietor. Section 60(3)(b) requires that the applicant be the proprietor of the mark at issue in a Convention Country before substitution can be considered. The Hearing Officer determined that proprietorship need not be only by way of registration in a Convention Country though that was one way of proving proprietorship. Evidence of use in trade would appear to be another (Footnote 47 of Chapter 13.190 of the thirteen edition of Kerly’s Law of Trade Marks and Trade Names).

In this case the applicants evidence failed to prove proprietorship in a Convention Country and the Hearing Officer concluded that this application under Section 60(3)(b) must fail at the outset.