Trade marks

It was settled law that the approach of the appellate court in trade mark appeals was that, unless the court was satisfied that a hearing officer had made an error of principle, it should be reluctant to interfere. It was settled law that genuine use meant actual use of the mark by the proprietor or a third party with authority to use the mark. The use had to be more than merely “token”, which meant that it should not serve solely to preserve the rights conferred by the registration. The use had to be consistent with the essential function of a trade mark and had to be by way of real commercial exploitation of the mark on the market for the relevant goods or services. All the relevant facts and circumstances had to be taken into account in determining whether there was real commercial exploitation of the mark. Use of the mark needed not always be quantitatively significant