| OUR CLIENT’S MARK | OPPONENT’S REGISTERED MARK |
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ABU DHABI – Pursuant to the last hearing on 31 March 2021, before the Court of Cassation (refer to our news article of April 2021), the Court ordered a transfer of the case back to the Court of Appeals for review by a different jury, because:
- The decision contradicts the laws and regulations to determine the similarity between both marks, and
- The decision did not examine the evidence and the other supporting documents in the case file.
It has also requested that the Court of Appeals appoints a trademark Expert.
The Court of Appeals held a hearing on 15 June 2021. The jury nominated an Expert to study the case files, hear the statements of both parties, and look at the Trademark Office registry to determine the following:
- The level of similarity between both marks;
- Assuming similarity exists, the Expert must establish whether it will likely confuse the consumers;
- Whether IJTI is well known, and
- Which party has prior use of its trademark in the UAE.
The Expert’s report included the following points:
- JTI owns a prior registration in the UAE but does not have prior use;
- Our client’s mark, IJTI, is not considered to be a well-known trademark;
- Definite lack of similarity between IJTI and JTI, and
- Based on the evidence, the confusion is not likely.
After another round of hearings, after reviewing all of the above, and the previous court sessions, on 19 October 2021, the court ruled in favour of our client, to allow its registration, and ordered the opponent to pay the legal costs.
For more information, please contact uae@qumsieh.com.