Trade mark decision

BL Number

O/358/02

Decision date

29 August 2002

Hearing officer

Mr D Landau

Mark

GOLF COURTS

Classes

16, 28, 35, 37, 41

Applicant for Rectification

Farel Bradbury

Registered Proprietor

John De Vere

Rectification

Sections 60 & 64

Result

Section 60 - Application failed.

Section 64: - Application failed.

Points Of Interest

• 1. See Earlier Registry decisions BL O/342/01 & BL O/343/01 and Appointed Person decision BL O/056/01.
• 2. This is another case which highlights the fact that a limited company and a private individual are separate legal entities even though the individual may effectively own or control the company.
• 3. This decision was appealed to the Appointed Person. In her decision dated 7 April 2003 ( BL O/111/03) the Appointed Person allowed the Appeal under Section 60 and directed that the applicant’s name be entered in the Register as proprietor.

Summary

This dispute was the subject of earlier decisions by the Registry (BL O/342/01 and BL O/343/01). On appeal to the Appointed Person the matter was referred back to the Registry for further consideration as it was not clear that the applicant, a private individual, had been properly advised by the Registry in relation to his application (BL O/056/02).

The applicant, Mr Bradbury, designed a compact golf course in 1988 whereby the game of golf could be played within a restricted area. He gave it the name 'Golf Courts'. Later in developing the concept commercially he worked with the registered proprietor and a company Golf Courts Incorporated was set up under the Law of the British Virgin Islands. Other companies were called Golf Courts International Ltd and Compac Golf Ltd. At the outset the new game was called HYDATUM GOLF and the name GOLF COURTS was used descriptively in the evidence filed by Mr Bradbury to establish ownership.

Under Section 60 Mr Bradbury sought to rely on the use of the mark GOLF COURTS in Ireland as an unregistered mark. The Hearing Officer concluded from the evidence, which was unsatisfactory in that it was not sufficiently detailed as regards the relevant law in Ireland, that any use of GOLF COURTS in a trade mark sense in Ireland had been at the behest of a company called Golf Courts Limited and not Mr Bradbury himself. All other use appeared to be descriptive use and there was no evidence to substantiate Mr Bradbury=s claim to ownership of the registered mark. The application for rectification under Section 60 was dismissed.

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