Trade mark decision

BL Number
O/199/03
Decision date
11 July 2003
Hearing Officer
Mr D Landau
Mark
FC
Classes
36
Registered Proprietor
freethcartwright
Applicants for a Declaration of Invalidity
F&C Management Limited
Application for Invalidation
Section 47(2) (Section 5(2)(b))

Result

Application for invalidation (in respect of some services) successful.

Points Of Interest

  • 1. Two letter marks : Registrar’s Practice.
  • 2. Two letter marks : Inclusion of ampersand.

Summary

The application was based on the applicants’ registration of the mark F&C (series of two marks) in respect of certain services in Class 36. The registration in suit had not yet been registered for five years so no issue of acquiescence in its use (Section 48(1)) arose.

The Hearing Officer compared the services and concluded that they were identical with those objected to in the earlier registration. The marks were essentially two letter marks, despite the ampersand in the opponents’ marks. In the result he decided that there existed a likelihood of confusion in respect of certain of the services and he declared the registration invalid in respect of those services.

Full decision O/199/03 PDF document109Kb