Trade Marks: Invalidity
easyGroup IP Licensing Ltd v Niagara Healthcare Ltd.
20 August 2003 Dr W J Trott
This
was an application by the group of companies that includes easyJet,
easyCar, easyHotel and many other associated companies for
invalidation of my client's easy shopper trade mark.
My client company distributed scooters for use in shopping centres by persons with restricted mobility and had registered the mark in class 12 for "battery powered scooters for the elderly and the infirm; battery powered wheelchairs; invalids’ carriages and conveyances". The easyGroup attacked the registration under s.5 (2) (b), (3) and 4 (a) of the Trade Marks Act 1994. The easyGroup sought an oral hearing and instructed counsel to attend. I was briefed to attend for Niagara.
Even though this case followed shortly after the decision of the European Court in Case C292/00 Davidoff & Cie SA v Gofkid Ltd [2003] E.T.M.R. 42 which extended the scope of s.5 (3) to identical and similar goods and marks, the application failed on all grounds.
Hearings of this kind have become increasingly rare since hearing officers began to give preliminary indications and encourage mediation.
