Legal updates and opinions
News / News
MESSI is a trade mark
By Janine Hollesen and Donvay Wegierski, Directors
In April, the EU court ruled that the degree of similarity between the marks MASSI and MESSI is not sufficiently high to accept that the relevant public may believe that the goods come from the same source. It went further saying that a significant portion of the public would in fact associate the term MESSI with the famous footballer and will therefore perceive MASSI as being conceptually different.
The EU trade mark owner of MASSI for clothing, shoes, bicycle helmets, protective clothing and gloves had previously opposed Barcelona and Argentinian football player Messi’s application for MESSI due to their visual and phonetic similarity in 2013 which opposition was upheld in the first round. The appeal court overturned the ruling allowing Messi’s marks to be registered. With the FIFA 2018 WORLD CUP underway – with a rather dubious start for Messi – this successful appeal favouring Messi is no doubt welcomed.
If you would like to learn more about Intellectual Property please visit our practice area page.
Latest News
Mind the Conduct: A Guide to COFI
by Hilah Laskov, Director In this article series, we take a deep dive into the South African Conduct of Financial [...]
Your customer consented to direct marketing – but can you still contact them after they have registered on the National Opt-Out Registry?
by Tebogo Sibidla, Director Many businesses assume that once a customer has consented to direct marketing, they may continue contacting [...]
Employers have rights too: Rebalancing the modern workplace
by Bradley Workman-Davies, Director South African labour law is often discussed through the lens of employee protection. That is unsurprising. [...]
From policy direction to regulation: Is South Africa finally achieving rapid deployment?
by Corlett Manaka, Director and Head of Disputes, Akhona Bilatyi, Director and Kuhle Joja, Associate In September 2024, we published [...]
South Africa: Merger Notification Thresholds and Filing Fees Increase from 1 May 2026
by Ahmore Burger-Smidt, Director and Head of Regulatory and Raisah O Mahomed, Associate South Africa's Minister of Trade, Industry and [...]
“Corporate Death by Winding-Up”: Pretoria High Court Reaffirms the Badenhorst Principle
by Eric Levenstein, Director and Head Insolvency & Business Rescue, Amy Mackechnie, Senior Associate and Clio Patricios, Candidate Attorney A [...]
