Decision Nº O/235/17 from Intellectual Property Office - (Trade market), 15 May 2017
| Judge | Ms A Michaels |
| Registration Number | UK00003108415 |
| Administrative Decision Number | O/235/17 |
| Date | 15 May 2017 |
| Court | Intellectual Property Office (United Kingdom) |
O-235-17
IN THE MATTER OF THE TRADE MARKS ACT 1994
AND IN THE MATTER OF TRADE MARK APPLICATION NO 31084515
BY YOURS CLOTHING LTD
AND IN THE MATTER OF OPPOSITION NO 405200 BY
RHINO RUGBY LTD
ON APPEAL FROM THE DECISIONS OF
MR OLIVER MORRIS DATED 12 AUGUST 2016
AND 9 NOVEMBER 2016
DECISION
1. This is an appeal from two decisions of Mr Oliver Morris, the Hearing Officer for the
Registrar. In the first, he upheld in part an opposition by Rhino Rugby Ltd (“the
Opponent") to a trade mark application for a series of marks consisting of the words
BADRHINO and badrhino, and in his supplemental decision he upheld the opposition
for part of an amended specification for the trade mark. Yours Clothing Ltd, the
applicant for the BADRHINO marks (“the Applicant”) appeals against both of those
decisions.
Background
2. AK Retail Holdings Ltd filed the trade mark application in issue on 13 May 2015. The
application was later assigned to the current Applicant. The application was published
on 3 July 2015. The specification of goods for which registration was sought was
amended soon after the opposition was filed and so the specification considered by
the Hearing Officer was:
Class 25: Articles of clothing and headgear; articles of outer clothing; articles of
under clothing; nightwear; leisurewear; sportswear; bathing costumes;
swimwear; neck ties, scarves; leisure clothing; tee shirts, sweat tops, hooded tops,
shorts, jogging bottoms, track suits, jackets, sports tops; none of the aforesaid
being rugby products nor intended to be sold or purchased in connection with the
game of rugby.
3. The opposition brought by the Opponent was pursued on the basis of three earlier
trade mark rights, all of which were relied upon for an objection pursuant to sub-
2
section 5(2)(b) of the 1994 Act. The Opponent’s UK trade mark No 2535347 was also
relied upon for an objection pursuant to sub-section 5(3). The earlier marks were:
UK trade mark No
2471901
RHINO PURE RUGBY
Filed 9 Nov 2007
Registered 30 Sept
2011
Class 18: Rugby products comprising goods
of leather and imitation leather, luggage,
bags, umbrellas, sports bags, kit bags, ball
bags, wallets and purses intended to be sold
or purchased for use in connectio n with the
game of rugby
Class 25: Rugby clothing (but not including
footwear) and rugby headgear intended to
be sold or purchased for use in connection
with the game of rugby.
Class 28: Sporting articles and equipment;
physical training equipment and apparatus;
rugby training equipment including
scrummage training machines, tackle bags,
contact pads, body pads, rucking nets,
training poles, grid markers, protective pads
and body supports; rugby ground equipment
including goal posts, post padding, flags and
poles; kicking tees and rugby balls.
UK trade mark No
2535347 RHINO
Filed 24 Dec 2009
Registered 27 July 2012
Class 25: Rugby clothing (but not including
footwear) and rugby headgear intended
to be sold or purchased in connection with
the game of rugby; none of the
aforementioned relating to the rugby league
football team known as Leeds Rhinos
EUTM No 4622155
Filed 11 Oct 2005
Registered 14 June
2012
Class 18: Goods of leather and imitation
leather; luggage; bags; umbrellas; sports
bags; kit bags; ball bags; wallets and purses;
all these goods being rugby products.
Class 25: Clothing and headgear; all these
goods being rugby products.
4. None of the earlier marks was subject to proof of use at the relevant date. However,
both sides filed evidence, and the Opponent provided evidence of the use which it had
made of its marks in relation to a variety of goods within its specification, especially
clothing, as well as prints from the Applicant's website offering clothing and footwear
for sale.
5. Both sides were professionally represented throughout the proceedings. A hearing
took place before the Hearing Officer. The Applicant was represented by Mr Tim
To continue reading
Request your trial