Trade mark decision

BL Number

O/078/99

Decision date

12 March 1999

Hearing officer

Mr M Reynolds

Mark

FLORIS

Classes

24

Applicant for Revocation

Istrad Limited

Registered Proprietor

J Floris Limited

Revocation

Section 46

Result

Section 46: - Revocation partially successful.

Section 46: - Revocation partially successful.

Points Of Interest

• 1. Discretion: The Hearing Officer concluded that the Registrar had no overriding discretionary power under Section 46 to preserve a registration.
• 2. The applicants appealed the Hearing Officer’s decision. See BL O/465/99.

Summary

The registered proprietors are an old established firm whose principal business is the sale of cosmetics and toilet preparations. The goods covered by this Class 24 registration are as follows: Towels (textile), face cloths, pillowcases, bed linen and bedcovers. The evidence filed by the registered proprietors established only very limited use in relation to towels and facecloths. In relation to the other goods they claimed to be developing a marketing plan.

The Hearing Officer accepted that the limited use claimed in respect of towels and facecloths was genuine use. The claim to have developed a marketing plan in respect of the other goods was insufficient to constitute proper reasons for none use.

The registered proprietors had also claimed that the Registrar had a general discretion to preserve the registration even though the registered proprietor had failed in the other respects. The Hearing Officer decided that the Registrar had no such discretion under Section 46 of the Trade Marks Act 1994.

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