Trade mark decision

BL Number

O/364/07

Decision date

13 December 2007

Appointed Person

Ms A Michaels

Mark

BUSINESS ZONE PLUS BUSINESS ZONE

Classes

09, 38

Registered Proprietor

T-Mobile (UK) Limited

Applicants for a declaration of Invalidity/Appellants

02 Holdings Limited

Invalidity

Appeal to the Appointed Person against the decision of the Registrar’s Hearing Officer in invalidity proceedings

Result

Appeal successful, Hearing officer’s decision set aside and the invalidity action remitted to the Registrar for further processing.

Points Of Interest

• 1. Invalidation actions against marks already revoked, surrendered or abandoned
• "It would not be appropriate to construe the phrase (Section 47(1)) as applying only to “live” marks ....”
• 2. Abuse of process; delay in launching proceedings; in this case the delay was not such as to justify striking out.
• 3. Appeals raising only academic or theoretical issues.
• 4. See also BL O/091/07

Summary

At first instance (see BL O/091/07) the Hearing Officer maintained the view that the Registry would not process invalidation actions against registrations no longer on the register. He had also decided that the action would be an abuse of process. 02 appealed to the Appointed Person. Having reviewed the matter and the particular circumstances of this case the Appointed Person concluded that Section 47(1) should not be construed as applying only to live marks. She also found that in the circumstances of the case the invalidation application was not an abuse of process. She set aside the Hearing Officer’s decision and remitted the matter to the Registry for further consideration.

Full decision O/364/07 152Kb