Re: help.....attached letter

On Sun, 14 Oct 2007 18:27:11 +0100, "Norman Wells"
<norman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:


"Alex Heney" <me8@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:kic4h3luk5lgt3m9rg5e7t8gr2ahm2e8nt@xxxxxxxxxx
On Sun, 14 Oct 2007 10:52:48 +0100, "Norman Wells"
<norman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Even if the trade mark registrations cannot be enforced, it does
not mean that no reputation in the name attaches to the objecting
company
and that no case can be brought under passing-off.

No, but the fact there is no passing off does mean that no successful
case could be brought.

It's always inadvisable to be categoric if you don't know all the facts,
and
particularly if you don't know the law.

It seems to me that a courier service is no more than a delivery service,
and that a large cash and carry operation is perfecly likely to have a
logistics arm rushing up and down motorways in lorries and vans marked
with
the company's name performing, er, a delivery service.

Why do you therefore say so definitely, without any reasoning at all, that
there is no passing off?

Because there is no significant similarity between a courier service
and a cash and carry business.

That's not my point. I was saying that a company that large has fingers in
many pies, and a bit of vertical integration would give them a distribution
arm, ie a delivery service, which is similar to a courier service.

Anyway, do you think it would not be passing off if someone started up, say,
Marks and Spencer Couriers? If not, why not exactly?


Because the business would be very different from that of the retail
company called "Marks & Spencer".

They would still have a better chance of winning a case than Bestway
would, because the name is rather more distinctive. But I still think
it unlikely they would win so long as the courier firms didn't use a
colour scheme or logos anything similar to those of the established
retail company.


And the logos are not similar.

That's irrelevant. If any confusion arises it will be as a result of both
businesses using the name Bestway not their respective logos.


It is *very* relevant. The logo is by far the more important part of
the trademark when the text is a simple word, or the combination of
two simple words.



And if the cash and carry business *did* have a fleet of vehicles
(unlikely, but I suppose not *totally* impossible if they were
*really* huge - Makro type size),

They have a turnover of over £1 billion per year, so they say. Just how big
do they have to be if that is not enough?

I don't know.

They also claim to be the "2nd largest wholesale cash and carry in the
UK", which I find rather hard to believe, unless they class ones such
as Makro as not being "wholesale cash and carry".



then the odds are they would be
rather better known than appears to be the case. But that would
*still* not be close enough to a similar business to run any risk of
"passing off".

Why not? Once again, you give a totally unreasoned conclusion and present
it as undeniable fact.

For the same reason I have stated on numerous occasions, but which
your limited intellect seems to be incapable of understanding.

The "Cash and Carry" business is not remotely similar in any respect
to the "courier" business.

Even in the unlikely event that the cash and carry business uses a
transport fleet to move goods between their warehouses, that is still
not remotely similar to a courier business.


This is pure bullying on the part of the cash and carry, which they
may even be able to carry off because they can probably afford the
costs of a court case, while the smaller company will go bust under
the costs.

Maybe so.

But that money has come from a very large business they have built up under
the name they are seeking to protect, and they don't want to see their
goodwill and reputation eroded. And that's exactly what the law on passing
off is there for.

Yes. It is there to prevent goodwill and reputation being eroded.

It is not there to allow large firms to bully small firms ho would
have no effect whatsoever on their reputation, due to working in a
totally different field.
--
Alex Heney, Global Villager
Check book: a book with a unhappy ending.
To reply by email, my address is alexATheneyDOTplusDOTcom
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: help.....attached letter
    ... arm, ie a delivery service, which is similar to a courier service. ... Anyway, do you think it would not be passing off if someone started up, ... Because the business would be very different from that of the retail ... confused with that of the Cash and Carry company. ...
    (uk.legal)
  • Re: help.....attached letter
    ... Anyway, do you think it would not be passing off if someone started up, ... Your comments here merely emphasise that you, however, have no idea about the difference between trade mark infringement and passing off. ... confused with that of the Cash and Carry company. ... Turnover is a measure of the scale of a company's business. ...
    (uk.legal)
  • Re: help.....attached letter
    ... Because there is no significant similarity between a courier service ... Because the business would be very different from that of the retail ... mark infringement and passing off. ... The greater the reputation they ...
    (uk.legal)
  • Re: help.....attached letter
    ... and a cash and carry business. ... arm, ie a delivery service, which is similar to a courier service. ... Anyway, do you think it would not be passing off if someone started up, say, ... They also claim to be the "2nd largest wholesale cash and carry in the ...
    (uk.legal)
  • Re: help.....attached letter
    ... It seems to me that a courier service is no more than a delivery service, ... and a cash and carry business. ... Anyway, do you think it would not be passing off if someone started up, say, Marks and Spencer Couriers? ... But that money has come from a very large business they have built up under the name they are seeking to protect, and they don't want to see their goodwill and reputation eroded. ...
    (uk.legal)
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