Company name and logo

Are marks automatically "across the UK".

I thought there were geographical restrictions as well? Ie Betty's Baps the sandwich shop in Sheffield is unlikely to be confused with Betty's Baps the sandwich shop in Glasgow, so there is no attempt to pass off. Have I got that wrong?

The geographical scope of use in trade is relevant to passing-off, in that it can be local-only: it is material to the determination/quantification of goodwill (local or national), goodwill being one of the 3 core aspects (the 'holy trinity': goodwill, misrepresentation, damage) in passing-off actions.

In simple terms: on the assumption that Betty Baps in Sheffield has no goodwill in Glasgow, a passing off action by Betty Baps in Sheffield against the Glaswegian one would fail, irrespective of whether the Glaswegian one is a year or a day old. But if Betty Baps in Sheffield registered its trademark before the Glaswegian one acquired goodwill (-to speak of), it would win trademark infringement proceedings against the Glaswegian one (even though it has no goodwill in Glasgow: that's where e.g. licensing could come in, if the Glaswegian Betty is already too committed as regards signage, web presence, etc...maybe even royalty-free licensing, if the Sheffield Betty is in a brand-building phase with a view to eventually push franchises <etc. - many many ways to skin that cat in a commercially-beneficial way, between reasonable business people>).

I'll not bore you to tears with "indications of geographical origins", which is a complex subset of the trademark system, and different again from the above.

On their home page it says they were established in 1994 and they were taken over in 2013.

There is a video on the internet dated Feb 2010 showing their logo looking like it is today so the company did exists before 2013. If you look hard enough you'll probably end up finding their logo pre-date yours.

On their home page it says they were established in 1994 and they were taken over in 2013.

 

There is a video on the internet dated Feb 2010 showing their logo looking like it is today so the company did exists before 2013. If you look hard enough you'll probably end up finding their logo pre-date yours.

I am aware Collett Transport Services has been in existence for that period of time, that's not the problem if you read my post. Its the fact they are causing so many problems with bad drivers and we are getting the blame because they are using CTS as their logo. We did a lot of search engine research before naming our company but oddly enough they don't rank well as CTS and didn't even come up at all when we looked back in 2009.

Its just the fact we are getting the blame for their drivers that is annoying and possibly damaging to us. I wouldn't be bothered at all if their drivers were not causing people to complain to us.

What font did you use in your logo?

I suggest that you don't answer that on a public forum, Chez2

I suggest that you don't answer that on a public forum, Chez2

Cheryl,

Listen to Stefan's advice (L00b). He is a very good patent attorney here in Sheffield.

Your challenge will be who created their logo first (i.e. who had 'prior art'). It may well be that they were using their logo before you created yours. If that is the case, you might have to consider changing your own. This is a classic scenario why companies register their trademarks (as any 'prior art' is likely to be found in searches).

I hope it works out for you

Cheryl,

 

Listen to Stefan's advice (L00b). He is a very good patent attorney here in Sheffield.

 

Your challenge will be who created their logo first (i.e. who had 'prior art'). It may well be that they were using their logo before you created yours. If that is the case, you might have to consider changing your own. This is a classic scenario why companies register their trademarks (as any 'prior art' is likely to be found in searches).

 

I hope it works out for you

We have already changed our Steve. I had hoped we wouldn't get any more calls or emails but we did yesterday. A lady gave me quite a detailed account about how a driver kept driving on her bumper trying to push her to go faster then pulled up along side her on the wrong side of the road in a narrow lane where there was barely room for two cars. She went on to discuss more and gave a registration number. She said she would give me a chance to discuss before going to the Police. I asked her to call the company then let me know how they reacted to her. I said I was fed up with complaints about this company so I was happy to give her a link to their website.

There isn't much I can do really. I hope she complains to the Police about their driver.

Its not specifically the logo that's the problem. We thought we have done lots of searches to ensure no waste company of a similar name. There was a dormant or dissolved company and lots of CTS companies in other fields. I have since found a CTS Environmental in Australia. I had trouble getting in to our twitter account at one point as theirs kept coming up when I tried to log in instead of ours!

We have already changed our Steve. I had hoped we wouldn't get any more calls or emails but we did yesterday. A lady gave me quite a detailed account about how a driver kept driving on her bumper trying to push her to go faster then pulled up along side her on the wrong side of the road in a narrow lane where there was barely room for two cars. She went on to discuss more and gave a registration number. She said she would give me a chance to discuss before going to the Police. I asked her to call the company then let me know how they reacted to her. I said I was fed up with complaints about this company so I was happy to give her a link to their website.

 

There isn't much I can do really. I hope she complains to the Police about their driver.

Here's your chance to use social media...assuming they are on Twitter why not send them a tweet 'pls train your drivers to drive safely. We're fed up with taking calls about your company'...that should get a reaction (and I'd retweet for sure!).

On their home page it says they were established in 1994 and they were taken over in 2013.

 

There is a video on the internet dated Feb 2010 showing their logo looking like it is today so the company did exists before 2013. If you look hard enough you'll probably end up finding their logo pre-date yours.

Playing devil's advocate, web.archive.org has a website for them dating from 2007, with a hit counter on it starting from 2006. They don't refer to themselves as 'CTS' until August 2007.

Here's your chance to use social media...assuming they are on Twitter why not send them a tweet 'pls train your drivers to drive safely. We're fed up with taking calls about your company'...that should get a reaction (and I'd retweet for sure!).

I don't think I dare.....not sure hubby would agree either.

As you know, we are @ctsenv and have over seven hundred followers, they are @CTSHire and have eighty three followers.

I wish their vehicles would state "on hire from CTS". I assume many that are driven badly could be out on hire rather than their own drivers. I may get in touch with them myself.

Here's your chance to use social media...assuming they are on Twitter why not send them a tweet 'pls train your drivers to drive safely. We're fed up with taking calls about your company'...that should get a reaction (and I'd retweet for sure!).

Update for you....

The lady who was the victim of the road rage contacted the company who owned the vehicle. They said it was out on hire to the local council. The council have spoken to the drivers who both deny everything. She said she wished she had reported it to the Police. I suggested she get a dash camera and check if there is any CCTV in the area where the incident took place.

I will certainly encourage anyone else who complains to report it to the Police.