The Hollies sang about the importance of ‘Just One Look’ and they say you make more of an impression in the first minute than in the next hour.
A recent trade mark case confirms that the High Court agrees on the importance of first impressions. An application to register trade marks based on the applicant’s nickname was rejected by the Court after opposition by a firm which had a similar name to another and which was in a similar line of business and which owned similar trade marks.
In the Court’s view, despite the fact that a more studied review would enable a person to discriminate between the two firms and their products so that, by the time any purchase was made, there would no longer be confusion in the mind of the purchaser, the risk of ‘initial interest confusion’ would lead to infringement of the trade mark.
The Court refused to accept the application by the firm seeking to register similar trade marks, in spite of the argument that the trade marks were based on the nickname of the firm’s proprietor.
Many people think they own the intellectual property rights in their name as of right. This is not so. It is always sensible to do research into the likely availability of any necessary trade marks in advance: rebranding exercises can be expensive and disruptive to the business.
Contact us for advice.