Legal updates and opinions
Authors
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
Directors’ duties and obligations in the business rescue process
Introduction Once a company is placed into a business rescue proceeding, the business rescue practitioners immediately step into a supervisory [...]
Labour court provides much needed correction on no work no pay cases
By Bradley Workman- Davies, Director and Neo Sewela, Candidate Attorney The Johannesburg High Court recently found in the matter of [...]
The important role of regional courts in the African Continental Free Trade Area – The Mseto judgment by the East African Court of Justice
By Pieter Steyn, Director The African Continental Free Trade Area ("AfCTA") has raised the prospect of greater trade, investment and [...]
Urgent update: Amendments to lockdown level 3 regulations
by Jacques van Wyk, Director; Andre van Heerden, Senior Associate; and Thabisa Yantolo, Candidate Attorney On 25 June 2020 the [...]
POPIA, Employment Contracts and Policies and Procedures
by Ahmore Burger-Smidt, Director and Head of the Data Privacy Practice; Jacques van Wyk, Director, Labour & Employment Practice; and [...]
UPDATE: COVID-19 Temporary Employer / Employee Relief Scheme (“TERS”) guideline and commencement of June applications
by Jacques van Wyk, Director; Andre van Heerden, Senior Associate; and Thabisa Yantolo, Candidate Attorney The Department of Employment and [...]
