https://www.polity.org.za
Deepening Democracy through Access to Information
Home / Legal Briefs / ENS RSS ← Back
Close

Email this article

separate emails by commas, maximum limit of 4 addresses

Sponsored by

Close

Embed Video

Donald Trump’s contribution to trade mark law

Donald Trump’s contribution to trade mark law

7th December 2016

SAVE THIS ARTICLE      EMAIL THIS ARTICLE

Font size: -+

“The Trump Organization also earns income by licensing the Trump name to building developers around the world.” – BBC news site in an article entitled “What conflicts of interest could Donald Trump have?”

Donald Trump has hogged the headlines for many months. So it’s perhaps no surprise that he’s even managed to make trade mark news. This happened recently when a Canadian court handed down judgment in the case of Singh v Trump, a case involving the licensing of the Trump trade mark in relation to building developments services.

Advertisement

This after a Trump company called Trump Marks Toronto LLP licensed a Canadian building development company called Talon International to use the Trump trade marks in relation to a new luxury hotel and condo development that would be called “Trump International Hotel & Tower”. This property development was marketed to buyers and investors with a document called ”Estimated Return on Investments”. It was apparently put to them that Trump properties tend to get good rentals. But in this case the good rentals did not materialise, so some unhappy investors sued Trump Marks Toronto LLP and Trump. The issue in the case was whether Trump was liable for the gross negligence of the Canadian licensee.

The Canadian court held that he wasn’t. The fact that Trump was not personally involved in the licensing of the trade mark does seem to have played a role. But the court also found that, in principle, the licensor of a trade mark is not liable for the gross negligence of its licensee. In particular, the court rejected the claim that by licensing the Trump trade mark to Talon International, Trump Marks Toronto LLP had misrepresented that Talon International had the expertise to handle the development. The court also rejected the claim that Trump must have foreseen that if he didn’t supervise Talon International’s use of the trade mark properly, investors could suffer damage.

Advertisement

These findings are perhaps odd if we consider what trade mark licensing is all about. Trade mark licensing is a well-established business practice and it takes place a great deal, particularly in business arrangements such as franchising.

In South Africa trade mark licensing is dealt with in section 38 of the Trade Marks Act where use by a licensee is referred to as “permitted use”. The licensee does not have to be officially recorded against the relevant trade mark registration for the use to be permitted use, which means that there does not need to be a recordal before the trade mark proprietor can rely on use by a licensee to defend a non-use attack (five years or longer) on the registration.

Having a licensee recorded as a registered user does, however, have certain advantages.

  1. The licensee/registered user is able to sue for trade mark infringement in its own name if the registered proprietor fails to do so.
  2. The licensee/registered user can join the trade mark proprietor in legal proceedings.
  3. The recordal is deemed to be prima facie proof that a licensing relationship does exist.

To record a registered user, it is necessary to submit details of the relationship between the parties; in other words, the agreement. The fundamental aspect of any trade mark licence agreement is quality control, which means that the licensor must be able to control the quality of the goods or services delivered by the licensee. This is critical from a branding perspective, because the last thing the brand owner wants is for its brand to lose clarity, for example, by being associated with goods or services of inconsistent quality. Inconsistency is also bad news from a trade mark law point of view, because it can have the result that the registration can be cancelled because it is no longer distinctive.

The Canadian court’s finding therefore seems a bit odd. Trade mark licensing is very much about making a representation; in other words, a representation that the licensee using the trade mark will provide the quality that consumers have come to expect. And a trade mark licensor must surely foresee that if it doesn’t supervise the licensee’s use properly, the customer can suffer damage, be it in the form of a second-rate hamburger or a significant financial loss from a bad property investment.

Any trade mark licence agreement will provide that the licensor has the right to terminate the agreement if the quality control provisions aren’t met. But a prudent licensor will also insist on an indemnity; in other words, a clause in terms of which the licensee agrees to indemnify the licensor in the event that it is sued as a result of the licensee’s failures.

Written by Waldo Steyn, IP, director, ENSafrica.

This article was first published by ENSafrica (www.ENSafrica.com). 

No information provided herein may in any way be construed as legal advice from ENSafrica and/or any of its personnel. Professional advice must be sought from ENSafrica before any action is taken based on the information provided herein, and consent must be obtained from ENSafrica before the information provided herein is reproduced in any way. ENSafrica disclaims any responsibility for positions taken without due consultation and/or information reproduced without due consent, and no person shall have any claim of any nature whatsoever arising out of, or in connection with, the information provided herein against ENSafrica and/or any of its personnel. Any values, such as currency (and their indicators), and/or dates provided herein are indicative and for information purposes only, and ENSafrica does not warrant the correctness, completeness or accuracy of the information provided herein in any way.

EMAIL THIS ARTICLE      SAVE THIS ARTICLE

To subscribe email subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za or click here
To advertise email advertising@creamermedia.co.za or click here

Comment Guidelines

About

Polity.org.za is a product of Creamer Media.
www.creamermedia.co.za

Other Creamer Media Products include:
Engineering News
Mining Weekly
Research Channel Africa

Read more

Subscriptions

We offer a variety of subscriptions to our Magazine, Website, PDF Reports and our photo library.

Subscriptions are available via the Creamer Media Store.

View store

Advertise

Advertising on Polity.org.za is an effective way to build and consolidate a company's profile among clients and prospective clients. Email advertising@creamermedia.co.za

View options
Free daily email newsletter Register Now