If a company is set up using a personal name and that person leaves the company, the company is entitled to carry on using the name in trade unless there have been contractual arrangements made in advance.
The opponent Mr Peter J Gerber had been involved in the setting up of a business which traded under the name PETER J GERBER OPTICIANS LTD (the mark) and owned one third of the shares in the Company. He resigned his directorship and sold his shares in the company in 1999.
Insofar as Section 3(3)(b) was concerned the Hearing Officer concluded that there was nothing inherent in the mark which would lead to deception or confusion and he dismissed that ground.
Under Section 3(6) the opponent had filed no evidence to show that the filing of the application was made in bad faith. He had been a principal in the Limited Company but as he had sold his shares and resigned his Directorship he was no longer involved in the business which had continued for some years. The Company was perfectly entitled to carry on trading under its existing name absent evidence of any contractual arrangements between the parties. Opposition failed.
Citations:
[2000] UKIntelP o39200
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Intellectual Property
Updated: 13 October 2022; Ref: scu.453983